Dragon Fire
by DragonGolem
Summary: Ranma 12 DBZ crossover Takes place after the failed wedding. Ranma is on a journey to find Akane that leads him to Satan City and into a meeting with the Z fighters.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z

Author's Notes: Forgive me if it flops, but as always, these stories are for me to write because I enjoy it. I also enjoy sharing what I write. Enough with my pointless ranting. Enjoy the show!

Dragon Fire

Prologue

It just wasn't fair. The day that should have been the happiest of his life was ruined by a bunch of idiots. He didn't object to marrying Akane. He wasn't sure if he loved her or not, but they should have been allowed to decide on their own. He sat on the roof thinking about these problems. The tuxedo he wore was still mostly on. It was slashed, burned, and soaked in places.

"Baka." Whether he said it about himself or everyone else even he couldn't tell you. Most of the problems in his life could be traced back to one source, Pops. That worthy stunted his emotional growth, his mental growth, and his physical growth through malnutrition. He cried about his life. Forget what his father said, crying was manly if there was a reason. The real man knows when to cry. His own discomfort mattered little, but what really hurt was Akane's reaction. It was obvious that she wanted the wedding and having it denied seemed to snap something inside of her. He felt as if a light switch had been flipped. When he went to ask if she was okay, Akane blew past him as if he wasn't even there. He stared after her in shock, but couldn't even say her name. His voice frozen in his throat. She had turned to look at him before leaving, so beautiful and perfect, and then she left.

"Why…? Why does this all happen to us? Just when things were getting better…Why?" he buried his face in his hands, anguished sobs could be heard. A soft voice called to him from downstairs. In his pain, he could barely make out the voice.

"Ranma? Come inside, it's cold out." Kasumi called up softly.

"I-I'll be down." He called back, hastily wiping his eyes. What he really needed to do was talk to Akane. That sounded like a good idea so he made his way inside through his window, settling into the room a little loudly to let Kasumi know he had come inside, and slipped down the hallway. He stood outside her door as he had done many times before and screwed up his courage before knocking.

"Akane?" he called softly. No one answered, but he assumed that she was hurting and didn't want to answer.

"Please Akane, it's Ranma. I just want to talk." He pleaded, praying she would answer, but still nothing was forthcoming.

"I am a jerk. I should have done something about this earlier. Please forgive me. I guess I just wanted to say that I l-love you…" he managed to say, but still no answer. With fresh tears, he walked away from her door. As he neared Nabiki's room, he saw the door slightly ajar. Stealthily, he crept towards the open door and peeked inside. The mercenary girl sat staring at a pile of money on her bed and not enjoying it at all. Normally she was happy to have that kind of money, but it seemed like a hollow victory. Fury welled up inside him as he thought about the pain she caused her own family. Akane wouldn't talk to him, but he would make this bitch talk to him. Without preamble, he pushed the door open and walked in. She stared at him for a second before jumping to her feet.

"Get out of my room, Ranma!" she yelled. Her façade cracked by earlier events and by his barging in.

"No. We need to talk." He said in a voice that brooked no argument.

"Fine, ten thousand yen." She said and held her hand out before he slapped it away. The girl recoiled, clutching her stinging hand to her chest.

"No way. We need to talk and this has been comin' for a long time now." He gestured for her to sit before sliding the door shut with his foot. When she wouldn't, he gave her a light shove onto the bed before sitting down in the chair by her desk. Nabiki's face expressed her shock at being struck, let alone struck by Ranma, and at him handling the situation so efficiently.

"What do you want to talk about?" she muttered sullenly.

"What possessed you to sell the information on your sister's wedding? Shampoo even said that she had meant to hit your sister. I used to think you collected the money for your family out of love, but I'm starting to think you collect it for yourself." At her inevitable outburst, he merely silenced her with a glare that lowered the temperature in the room by several degrees. "Sure, some of it gets used for the house, but your methods are growing more and more underhanded." He said.

"Ooh, I'm impressed with the big words." She quipped before another glare cut her off. Nabiki felt like she was being lectured by her mother, as crazy as that sounds, but she seriously doubted that even with Ranma's crazy lifestyle he'd be channeling her mother.

"You obviously didn't think about your sister or you would have realized the problems your schemes would cause. The morning fights, stringing along Kuno, the pictures…The list just goes on and on. It was bad enough that you dragged your sister into it, but you dragged a stranger along for the ride as well, a guest in your house. If you had asked I would have been more then happy to help. Tch, forget it. You obviously won't learn or you refuse to learn, either way I'm through." Without even waiting for a response, he slipped from the room as quietly as he came in.

"That was a waste of time." He muttered as he headed for his room. The boy could see that she really hadn't seemed to care one or the other, but he had to try and get through to her. Akane wasn't listening to him either. He only sister he hadn't talked to was Kasumi, but that could wait until he looked decent. After a quick scrub in the furo and a change of clothes, the boy made his way downstairs to talk to Kasumi. The eldest girl would most likely be cleaning up. Sure enough, he found her in the kitchen, cleaning dishes. Something seemed a little off about the scene, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He deliberately made his presence known by stepping on a squeaky floorboard. The gentle girl turned to see who was there and looked oddly relieved to see Ranma.

"Oh, Ranma…It's just you." She said with a warm smile before adding softly "Thank goodness." The girl went back to washing dishes. The pigtailed youth moved to dry them and the two worked in companionable silence for awhile before his curiosity got the better of him.

"What's wrong? You looked nervous." He said to her. The girl lowered her head.

"I-it's nothing." She said in a small voice. Ranma rolled his eyes. The girl was as bad a liar as he was. He set a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but was quickly surprised when she clung to him like he was an anchor and wept in fear. His arms slipped around her of their own volition while a burning rage welled up inside of him. Who dared scare his family? They may not be blood, but they had all been through hell together. With an effort, he calmed own enough to care for Kasumi. He led her into the living room and sat down, the girl promptly placing herself in his lap and seemingly trying to get into his shirt with him. Whatever had her scared must be bad indeed.

"K-Kasumi…Tell me what's wrong. How can I fix it if I don't know what's going on?" he soothed, stroking her hair softly. She had comforted him enough times, it was finally time to repay the favor.

"A-Akane's g-gone…She took off shortly before you came down." The gentle girl said. Ranma's heart turned to ice in his chest, but it didn't stop there. "Sh-she was talking about going to a place called Satan City to learn from Mr. Satan. She said she was tired of you always being above her." The girl gradually began to calm down, but that fear was still there. Now he knew what it was, it was fear for her little sister.

"Hey, I'll catch up to her and talk to her. How big of a head start did she get?" he asked.

"She left shortly after the wedding. Akane made me promise I wouldn't tell you where she'd gone, but I just had to. D-do you love her, Ranma?" she asked him softly.

"I don't know. I know I care about her, but she should have told me she had a problem. I-I went to talk to her earlier, but she wouldn't answer. I guess she'd already left." He sighed, feeling his chest tighten, but held back the flood. The boy didn't want to end up like Mr. Tendo. Kasumi snuggled into his lap, the day's events catching up to her, making her eye-lids droop. He continued to hold her until she fell fast asleep. With fluid grace, he stood up and carried her to her room. After making sure she was tucked in, he left, closing the door behind him. He saw Nabiki standing in the hallway, her face unreadable.

"Saotome." She said.

"Tendo." He replied. The girl seemed momentarily startled, but let it slide.

"You're going after my sister?" she asked.

"I need to find Akane and apologize. If I hadn't let things get this bad…" he was cut off by the mercenary girl.

"No, I meant are you going after Kasumi?" the question took Ranma off guard, but he managed to get himself under control.

"Nope. She's nice, but I feel like she's sort of my sister. Ya don't date yer sister." He said with a small smirk. The girl shook her head.

"…I'm going with you." She made it a statement of pure fact and it brooked no argument.

"Fine. I could use someone who can think. Ya know I'm bad in that department." His smirk turned into a grin, but the middle Tendo girl could see through it. Things must be bad if he's admitting faults.

"When do we leave?" she asked.

"In the morning. I still need some sleep." She agreed and went back to her room. Ranma watched her go before stepping into his room, grabbing his backpack from behind the door, and taking off out the window. This was his problem and he would fix it himself. Who knew what the new day would bring, but for Ranma Saotome, it always brought more trouble.

The End

Author's Notes: Alright, I'm not quite sure how far I'm going to take this, but I was thinking of going through at least the Buu Saga. Suggestions are welcome, but don't be upset if I don't use your idea. Setups are always the most important part of any story. I'm not covering new ground, I know, but I do hope this is a good read. Well, enough of my jabbering. Ja ne!


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: Sometimes my stories seem to scream at me to write them, but sometimes I have to force them out with the Jaws of Life. Luckily for me, this story wants to be written. Enough with my babbling and let's get on with the show!

Dragon Fire

Chapter 1

Bring it On

Ranma Saotome, Heir of the Anything Goes Style Saotome Ryu, was currently doing something he had prayed he would never have to do again. Ride on top of a train instead of inside. Riding a bus in this fashion is less hazardous then riding a train because the bus goes at a sane pace whiles the train rockets along at over a hundred kilometers per hour. The only advantage to this was that he would make it to Satan City even faster. His mind drifted back to last night and the start of this journey. He couldn't dwell on it too much or he would get angry again. The wedding, the fiancées, the chaos, and Happosai drinking the Nannichuan. He wanted to scream, but he knew that if he started, he might not stop. His mind came back to the task at hand as he saw the city approaching rapidly. There was a hook for catching mailbags just as they were entering the station. With a deft grab, he caught hold of the hook, spun around, and landed easily on the platform. The people standing around stared in shock at the casual display, embarrassing the young martial artist.

"Heh heh…Have a nice day folks!" he said before he took off running, just as station security came running up to check things out. He didn't make it far as his usual luck kicked in at that exact moment. The pigtailed boy was running down a long tunnel from the train station to the street.

"Hold it right there!" a girl's voice cried out just as she leapt in front of him. Ranma could tell she was good, but no where near him. She might be a match for Shampoo or Ukyou, but he doubted that. Her stance was fair, not okay, not good, just fair.

"Sorry, I don't got time to play with you." He said it at his most threatening, hoping to scare her off. Akane had a major lead on him and he wanted to just find her and go home. The girl didn't take the hint.

"Do you know who I am? I'm Videl, daughter of Mr. Satan." She said proudly.

"Who's Mr. Satan anyway?" he asked in confusion. The girl looked angry at that. He was wondering absently if she was related to Akane somehow.

"Only the greatest martial artist in the entire world! My father defeated Cell." She said by way of explanation. Now Ranma remembered Cell just fine. Come to think of it, he also remembered Mr. Satan now, and remembered his Pops' first impression of him. The guy had some talent for the martial arts, but even through the TV they could see that tell had him outclassed.

"I don't care who your daddy is little girl, I'm here lookin' for somebody and it doesn't concern you." He said condescendingly, hoping to anger her and make her leave. Too bad she seems to have taken stubbornness lessons from Akane. The girl glared at him in fury before launching herself at him with intent to kill. She had some skill, he had to admit that, and good technique, but she was no match for the Anything Goes Style. He realized his error shortly after the fight began. She was clearly holding nothing back, forcing him to keep up. He didn't want to hurt a girl, but this girl sure wanted to hurt him!

"I'll show you!" she screamed as a well executed punch caught him in the stomach and flung him into a wall. The pigtailed wonder gasped in shock as the blow hit him with the force of one of Ryoga's hits, dazing him slightly.

"Now I'm going to turn you over to the police for unlawful boarding of a train. Come quietly and I won't have to hurt you any more." This statement was met with derision. He waited for her to let her guard down before running past her at top speed. Despite her close quarter combat abilities, she couldn't run even remotely fast enough to catch him. He resisted the urge to laugh and give her the red eye as he ran from her. It galled him to run, but he understood that sometimes one must avoid encounters. The Saotome luck seemed to be in overdrive today as he crashed head-first into a man wearing a black bodysuit, green tunic, with gloves and boots. The other thing that's noticeable is the huge orange helmet with black visor and strange antennae. Normally running into people would result in both parties crashing into the ground, but this time he found that the rules had changed. He bounced off the young man as if he were a solid steel wall.

"Pardon me citizen! I am here to help in the apprehension of a wrong-doer! I am the guardian of the city! The Great Saiya Man!" he proclaimed before assuming a bizarre stance that had him standing bowlegged with his hands in a V on his forehead. Ranma groaned as he apparently found Kuno's long lost cousin, who should have stayed lost. Videl picked that moment to run up, adding chaos to confusion.

"Hold it right there!" she cried. Ranma quickly assessed the situation and came to a conclusion: run.

"Sorry to bother ya! So long!" he shouted just before taking off down the street as fast as he could go. It took the startled duo a second to register what just happened. After a brief squabble, the girl jumped in her helicopter and the Great Weird One took off in hot pursuit. The boy thought he'd made a clean getaway when he suddenly found himself slamming into a hard, unyielding surface with terrific force.

"Care to explain why Miss Videl is chasing you?" the Great Saiya Man asked. Ranma got back to his feet with a groan. Even with his hard head it hurt like hell.

"Well, I didn't have money for the train so I just kinda…hitched a ride." There, the truth. Maybe that would get them off his case.

"Isn't that dangerous?" the hero wannabe asked in some confusion.

"To most people, but I am Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes Style of Martial Arts." He said a trifle proudly. Suddenly he got the feeling he said the precisely wrong thing. After making so many mistakes he developed a sixth sense for chaos.

"Wait a minute. I've heard of the Anything Goes Style before… You're master wouldn't happen to be Happosai, would it?" he visibly swelled under his costume. The pigtailed boy gulped and knew that his next answer was important.

"I-I was trained in the Art by my father, Genma Saotome. H-he's my master." He almost patted himself on the back until the boy in front of him suddenly manifested an aura in the highly visible spectrum. It was bright gold and reminded Ranma of Saffron with its intensity.

"That guy stole several things from my family and when my father caught him he promised his son as a student in exchange, but took him away shortly after midnight. If you're his son then I guess you're gonna uphold the agreement, sound good? Otherwise I turn you in." the offer sounded good. Very good. It got him away from that crazy chick and got him some free training to boot, but he still had to find Akane.

"Fine by me, but I need to find my fiancée. She came here just yesterday." He explained. The warrior in front of him powered down before looking towards the sky in thought.

"Deal. I'll beat some sense into you and help you find your fiancée. What's her name?"

"Akane Tendo." He replied. The Great Saiya Man grinned.

"Fine, we'll find her and get on with your training. Hope you can take the pain." He said before flying upward and looking back at Ranma expectantly. When it was clear the boy couldn't fly, he sweatdropped at making that stupid mistake. He decided to make flying his first lesson as he hauled the boy into the air and dragged him behind him. The pigtailed boy would never admit being scared of anything but the Neko-ken, yet this was actually a little scary. Somehow controlled flights were scary, but his uncontrolled ones were strangely fun. He knew there was a flaw in his logic somewhere. His captor said his name was Son Gohan and the first lesson was flying. As they swooped around the city, he instructed Ranma in what he had to do. Since the current training was something like what his father would do, it was oddly comfortable and easy to understand. Learn to fly or get hurt.

"Once you get the basics down then we'll look for Akane! Deal?" he called to Ranma. The pigtailed boy nodded with apprehension. With a grin and a shrug. "Have a safe landing!" and with that, he let go of the boy's hand and zoomed off. At first he panicked, but the rapidly onrushing ground helped him to focus considerably. All he had to do was focus his ki and push off the ground with it while simultaneously pushing in the direction he wanted to go. Simple. The ground was getting dangerously close; thankfully he could think faster then most people which gave him several seconds extra to work it out. He picked a focus, Akane, and pushed as hard as he could. Apparently he should have figured out a better focus, but it was good enough to put him in a low glide…into the side of a building. He crashed with terrific force and landed on his back. The sound of applause was heard nearby; he turned his head to see Gohan.

"Good job. Normally I would have led you through the steps slowly, but we don't have time. I'm just glad you figured it out. Just focus on your ki and let other thoughts leave your mind and you won't have such an interesting landing." He chuckled and drifted upward. The battered martial artist cursed and leapt after his sensei. Gohan rose quickly, leaving Ranma earthbound. It infuriated the boy. Why couldn't he have just said that in the first place? With that thought he jumped again, his eyes totally on the prize and that was kicking Gohan's butt, when he noticed the other boy swerve to the left. Not even caring, he took off after him, much to the young saiya-jin's shock.

"You picked up the first lesson better then I did…" he muttered before tearing off across the city with an infuriated Ranma on his heels.

"Hold still and take your punishment like a man!" he cried. Gohan thought 'Not on your life' and kept flying. He noticed his tail had stopped chasing him and he turned to look. The martial artist was floating there above the city in shock. Here he was, standing on air as if it were the ground, and doing it easily. Correction, not easily, but it was a lot less difficult then he expected. A flash of movement caught his eye and he looked towards what drew his attention and gasped.

"What is it?" Gohan asked.

"That's Akane! She seems different somehow…" the boy was puzzled, and then he noticed it. A huge 'M' was seemingly tattooed on her forehead. Before Gohan could stop him, Ranma landed beside the girl with an audible thump. His landings still needed work. The girl turned to look at him with soulless eyes. Ranma recoiled from her gaze before steeling himself.

"Akane, we need to talk…" was as far as he got before the girl snarled in absolute fury and punched him in a blinding flash of ki that hurled him through a glass storefront and well into the back of the department store. With a sniff, the girl walked off as if nothing had happened. His last conscious thought was 'Why…?'

/-

He awoke to a darkened room and the feeling of something on his head. Wandering fingers found the bandage that was apparently keeping his brains in and groaned in pain. The flight training was truly brutal, but Akane's right hook was even more brutal. He wondered how she got so strong and so fast. Granted, he wasn't expecting a straight punch, but to send him flying like that? She was stronger then Ryoga now and faster then him! He just wanted to sleep as his mind tried to wrap around all this, but the minute he rolled over he saw someone staring at him from not even an inch away.

"Hiya!" the little boy said and wondered why the older kid was suddenly clinging to the ceiling. He felt pretty sheepish when he realized where he was and gently drifted down. Flying could be very useful.

"Hey squirt. Where am I?" Ranma asked. The boy just smiled and went to the door yelling his head off.

"He's awake!" was the cry through the house. The pigtailed boy shrugged and jumped out of bed, or at least he tried to before a wave of dizziness hit and he crashed back on the bed. His thoughts kept going back to Akane and would have continued if someone hadn't walked into the room with something that cures all ills. Food.

"My son Goten says you're awake." The woman smiled kindly at the wounded martial artist. She set the tray in front of him, but remembered his manners before digging in.

"Thank you very much." He said before plowing into the chow with a gusto that would do a saiya-jin proud. She seemed briefly startled before smiling.

"Gohan said you'd have a big appetite." She said with a soft laugh. He swallowed quickly so that he could ask a question.

"Where is he anyway?" the boy asked.

"He went to Corrin's to get some senzu beans. Those should help you recover faster." She said. Ranma blinked. If there was something that helped him heal quicker then he was all for it.

"After then do we begin training?" he asked.

"Oh, he's training you is he? He's really taking that agreement seriously. I want to be angry, but I must admit that it would be nice if he had a friend his age. By the way, Ranma, my name's Chichi. You took quite a hit from that girl, Akane wasn't it? I remember when Goku and I were younger, we used to spar all the time." She said with a fond look at the memories, but the boy looked slightly disturbed. Was that really a relationship? Well, it worked for them, but he really didn't want a marriage full of combat with his wife. He shook his head to clear it and looked back to Chichi with a smile.

"Oh listen to me rambling away…Gohan should be home by now. Why don't you go outside with him? A senzu bean would be just what you need." She said before shooing him out of the house. In his injured state, he ran into Gohan literally, again.

"Whoa! You okay?" at the martial artist's weak nod he continued. "I brought ya back something to help you out." He held out a small bean and urged him to eat it. With some reluctance, he ate the proffered item and blinked in shock. Smiling, the boy got back to his feet with a bounce.

"That feels great! When do we start?" he flexed his fingers and worked the kinks out of his body. Gohan laughed.

"Since you're feeling so good we can start now." The young man said before launching into an explanation of what they would be doing and presented the young martial artist with a set of training clothes with the kanji for Turtle.

"I paid a visit to my dad's master, Muten Roshi and got these clothes off of him. After I cover the basics, he wants a chance to train you as well. If we're lucky, you'll also be learning from my old master, Piccolo." He was quite happy to detail the training regimen that would make his dad's training look comparatively easy and saying that it was only the beginning. Ranma began thinking that maybe running away might be a good idea, but after seeing Gohan's speed, he knew it wouldn't be good.

"Oh Kami what am I gonna do?" he muttered in near despair as he realized he'd just signed up for several months of hard training and abuse. At least there was a bright side. Akane was in Satan City and he was closer then before to his goal. With those thoughts in mind, he began the first of his many trials at the hands of the son of Goku.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Someone pointed out that I should save "The End" for the story's end. Thanks, I actually needed to be reminded. I hope this puts things off to a good start. In the next chapter, I will be detailing his training. Hope you enjoy! Ja ne!


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: This chapter will be shorter than the others. I repeat, this chapter will be shorter. Life is intruding on my time to write, but I will make every effort to finish. Thank you and have a nice day.

Chapter 2

"You can sleep when you're dead." – Piccolo

Journal Entry…

This is the first time I have ever put anything to paper for fear that Nabiki would get a hold of it and blackmail me with it. Since being at Gohan's house means no Nabiki, I decided I better write down some of this. Their training methods are amazing. I'm currently wearing a gi that weighs more than Ryoga's pack and Pop's fat ass combined. They took a cue from my Chinese clothes. Red gi with a black shirt underneath. Chichi proclaimed it to be very masculine while Gohan and Goten rolled their eyes. That same day my first training assignment was to catch Goten.

To catch Goten required more speed than I had at the time. He is much faster than Happosai could ever hope to be. The weighted clothing was also joined by a gigantic turtle shell and ankle weights. It was getting harder to catch him. He is smaller than me, but he was sure annoying. By the end of the month I was finally able to catch him. I wasn't allowed to bask in my accomplishment. My new friend Gohan simply gave me weighted bracers and ankle weights as well as a heavier turtle shell before telling me that we would be sparring now.

The food at the house is always good. It may not be as good as Kasumi's, but she sure knew about feeding martial artists. Also the guest room is a nice change from the futon back home. They think that the constant training bothers me, but its nothing compared to my usual training. Pops is a lot harder on me than these people. Chichi has also been teaching me the subjects I have trouble with in school, but unlike the boring instructors at Furinkan, she held my attention. Probably because she threatened me with no dinner. By the end of the second month, Pop came to look for me. He was sure upset with me for taking off, but then he was reminded, forcefully, about the agreement. The old fool was reluctant to leave me there until I showed him some of the things I learned, such as flying. That got his attention quick enough. Especially when I showed him my ability to generate powerful ki blasts without using emotion for power. Pop was so surprised he even went back to tell everyone how I'm doing via air-mail. That was quite a night.

The next day began the true torture. A solid month of training under Gohan. Constant sparring before and after school left me exhausted. The annoying thing was that he wasn't even winded at the end of the day, but I changed that rather quickly. It took me the whole month, but I eventually beat him. He said it was quite an accomplishment, but something told me that he was holding back. It bothered me until I bugged him about it. It took quite a bit of convincing, but eventually he showed me. That was the day I learned what a Super Saiya-Jin was and that experience will be burned into my brain until I die. The sheer level of power reminded me of Saffron. He only held it for a little while, but the damage was done. I can't stand being second best to anyone. I began pushing myself harder, looking for greater challenges. I wanted to learn from Gohan's old master, he just shrugged and went off to talk to him. His former master is called Piccolo. He was easily one of the most impressive people I ever met. Piccolo comes from another planet, which I found to be easier to believe than they thought I would. The green-skinned man gave me a brief evaluation before saying he would train me. He says that tomorrow we'll be going to a place called the Hyberbolic Time Chamber.

A few days later-

Well, journal I'm out. It was the most grueling, brutal experience I had ever been through. The sheer gravity nearly broke my bones while the constant temperature changes made me wonder if I was going to bake or freeze to death. The only constant was Piccolo's constant bitching and yelling. Funny, it made me feel pretty good. I'll never admit this to a person, but to this piece of paper I'll say that I actually miss my Pop. I also miss Kasumi, Tendo, Ucchan, Shampoo… Okay, I miss everyone, but I can't go back until I find out what happened to Akane. I've actually seen her a couple more times, but she always manages to get away. The grueling training yielded a positive result (besides giving me two years to improve on my studies). I can actually beat Piccolo, even powered up! I don't even need to be at full power to beat him either! I even beat Gohan. He'd got roped into fighting in the World Martial Arts Tournament and wanted me to train with him. The girl who snagged him, Videl, said she'd blow his cover as The Great Saiya Man. She also stopped by and got steamed at seeing me there. The girl's kind of cute, but annoying. Chichi is a great peacemaker it seems, especially when she punts both parties into the lake. Though it was funny to see the daughter of Mr. Satan nearly pass out from seeing me turn into a girl, best part was that I was right on top of her when I changed. Okay, it's petty, but it was funny.

/-

"Ranma!" Chichi called from downstairs. Ranma sat back from the desk in the guestroom with a stretch and a yawn.

"Yeah?" he called back as he made his way towards the woman.

"Someone's here to see you." She said as she met him at the base of the stairs, worry in her eyes. He quirked an eyebrow, but followed her into the kitchen. Ranma stopped and stared in amazement at who was sitting there. The Ice Queen of Furinkan High, Nabiki. Despite her nickname, she didn't seem to be that way right now. The girl standing there was crying and breathing a little fast, her clothes were disheveled and she was trembling uncontrollably.

"Oh R-Ranma!" as if his shock wasn't complete, she flung herself into his arms crying uncontrollably. Her arms were wrapped tight around his waist, face buried in his chest. The pigtailed youth stared in shock before hesitantly holding her.

"What happened?" he asked. Maybe getting the girl to talk would help her.

"H-Happosai's after me! H-he followed me on the train and has been trying to find you. I'm sorry if I led him here, but I can't take it anymore! He's always stealing my underwear or groping me, fondling me, and leering at me… I'm sorry!" the girl sobbed. Now Ranma may not always like Nabiki, but he also knows that no one deserves the treatment that Happosai's been giving her. His eyes turned cold and hard as he remembered all the times the freak has screwed him over or hurt an innocent with his stupid games. His temper snapped almost audibly. The old pervert has bad timing as always, but this time it was bad for him. The shrunken man bounded into the kitchen with his usual battle cry.

"Sweeto!" he cried as he attempted to glomp every female in range, but couldn't even grab one. Nabiki cringed in terror, but Chichi's visible battle aura made the lech stop and stare at the glowing woman.

"Heh heh heh…Whoops?" he chuckled nervously before a perfectly executed straight punch took him in the side of the head and launched him out into the yard where he landed in a heap. Happosai stood up painfully, he needed energy and Nabiki was out in plain sight. She had no one near her and seemed to be frantically looking for a way out. He leaped toward certain salvation, but his flight was halted by a suddenly materialized chest in his path. Happosai looked up in confusion and outrage from the manly chest to stare in fury at…Ranma. His eyes seemed to shrink and he gibbered weakly before he was yanked off and flung into the air.

"I've had enough of you!" the youth shouted before flying up after him. The little pervert tried to escape, but for every blow he evaded another dozen caught him. It was a severely one-sided fight as Ranma thoroughly demolished the aged master before hurling him back to Nerima. A few ki blasts were sent after him as explosive parting gifts before landing once again. The women both stared at him in complete amazement. Sure, Chichi has seen this before, but she never pictured Ranma doing it. With a small chuckle, she went back inside. Nabiki looked to Ranma with a smile as well, but not the predatory smirk she usually wore.

"You said you would wait for me." She accused, but somehow it came out as teasing.

"I didn't want anyone else getting involved." He replied. The mercenary girl tilted her head to the side. Ranma never noticed how attractive she was, but quickly shook those thoughts out. Piccolo warned him that he would age while in the chamber. It had been a year to him since he saw anyone, but his reaction to Nabiki surprised him.

"Too late, we're already involved. So what did you find out about Akane?" she asked. Ranma sighed before launching into the full tale of what has happened to him. The girl was in total shock over what he had seen and done, but the thing that surprised her the most was the change in Ranma. He seemed to have grown at least three inches, not to mention the sudden muscle definition. She felt her cheeks redden as she suddenly realized he was a man now. He was always good looking before, but now he totally ruined her for other guys. She shook her head to clear it, but images of the two of them together would haunt her dreams tonight. The two walked into the house just as Gohan and Goten came back to the house just in time for dinner.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Yes, I mentioned this chapter would be short. I'll try to update sooner. The next chapter begins the World Martial Arts Tournament. Thanks for reading and ja ne!


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: This chapter will be longer than the last.

Chapter 3

Rise to the Challenge

Nabiki was still not an early riser, but living in the Son household meant compromises. To be honest, she was glad to be near Ranma again, even if she wouldn't admit it to anyone. It felt good to wake up to the sounds of combat and with the smells of good cooking. If she closed her eyes she could almost imagine that she was home. The events of the night before left her with a warm feeling. The old pervert, Happosai, had tormented her mercilessly until she found the only person who could stand up to him. The pigtailed martial artist had vastly improved. She smiled as she burrowed back under the blankets as she thought about how he felt when she was up against him.

"Nabiki! Time to get up!" Chichi called. The girl sighed as she grudgingly got up and dressed. When she went downstairs, the woman showed her to her seat. Just as the Tendo girl was settling in, the rest of the household trooped in from their sparring. Nabiki almost jumped when Ranma sat next to her with a smile.

"Sleep well?" he asked. The girl blushed slightly and nodded, mentally cursing herself for acting like some hormonal little girl. Sure, he was handsome, and he had a body girl's would drool over, but she was more interested in a guy with brains. If he had a good body than it was a bonus. Gohan and Goten were already shoveling their food down. The two boys finished roughly at the same time and ran out the door in opposite directions. Ranma was actually eating at a slower pace, but still fast to an ordinary person. She was trying to get up the nerve to talk to him, but just then Chichi walked in the room.

"I just graded your test from yesterday." She began, sounding ominous.

"And?" he said in barely concealed worry. Nabiki knew what his grades were like and figured it would be more of the normal, but her next statement shocked her.

"You passed! You got an A." she said happily as she showed his test paper. He whooped happily, without even thinking about it he grabbed Nabiki in a hug. The shell shocked look on her face from hearing the grade turned into a funny little smile. Chichi cast an appraising eye on the scene before her with her own smile. The pigtailed boy realized who he had just grabbed and began apologizing, but she just waved him off with a flushed look.

"Ah…Does this mean what I think it does?" he asked.

"Yes it does, I'm sending your results in and you should have your diploma by next month." She said. The boy looked even happier at the prospect while the Tendo girl boggled.

"How?" the confused girl asked.

"I spent some time in a place called the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It allows you to train a whole year in a day. Well, even I can't train that much without a break so I figured studying would be a good idea." He shrugged. Once again Nabiki was struck by the thought that something else was different and now she knew what it was. He sounded educated. It was quite a change. She was suddenly curious what his girl half looked like. While Ranma was distracted talking to Chichi, she threw cold water in him. The short, busty redhead was gone. In her place was a young woman, the baby fat that had made her look so top heavy was gone; she was still well proportioned, but it was better distributed now. The redhead gave her a look that was far from irritated; she actually seemed to be amused. As she stood, Nabiki noticed something else. Apparently Ranma-chan had a growth spurt. She may not be as tall as Kasumi, but she was just barely taller than herself. The mercenary girl may not swing that way, but it was obvious she was any man's dream girl.

"Hey Nabiki-chan, I didn't know you swung that way." The girl said with a humor clearly heard in her voice, making Nabiki blush. Chichi shook her head and left to wash the dishes. The girl felt slightly nervous about being alone with the other girl. It was a strange feeling. She knew this was Ranma, but she seemed to be more comfortable in her skin than when she was home.

"I don't. I'm just curious about this change in you. Normally you'd be running for the hot water by now." She asked curiously.

"Well, I had it pointed out to me that I am a fine specimen of a woman. Besides, I know I'm a guy and that I'm straight so why am I worried? Girls aren't weaker and dumber than boys. I was the dumb one for continuing with that load of bullshit." She said. Nabiki was amazed; she wondered what pod this clone climbed out of. Then again, it was easy to see for someone who knew him that this was Ranma. The mercenary girl had the sudden urge to hug the girl, but firmly held it down. The neo girl went to the sink and splashed herself with hot water, turning back into a guy. He flipped his pigtail, smirking over his shoulder at Nabiki, just barely catching a glimpse of the girl wiping some drool off her chin self-consciously.

"What are you going to do today?" Nabiki asked.

"Try to find Akane. She really hasn't been herself." He said as he put on the heavy turtle shell.

"What am I going to do while you're gone?" she said, unconsciously pouting. Why does her baby sister get all the boys? It wasn't fair. The pigtailed martial artist was struck by how cute she looked like that, but mentally shook himself. The woman of the house walked in the room.

"You can help me around the house today." She said pleasantly, but in a tone that brooked no contradiction. Nabiki gulped, but nodded. With a wave, the boy took off flying in the direction of Satan City, leaving the girl behind with chores and a lot on her mind.

Back at the Tendo-ke-

Soun, Genma, and Happosai were sitting around the shogi board drinking sake and cheating outrageously. Soun was stealing the panda's pieces, Genma was stealing the crying man's pieces, and the old pervert was stealing from both. The topic of their slurred discussion was Ranma.

"I swear the boy needs to learn some respect! He goes off and learns how to fly, but doesn't teach his old man!" Genma grumbled. Across from him, his friend nodded sagely or as sagely as a drunken man can nod without vomiting. The perverted master just groaned. The sake had taken his mind off of his humiliating defeat, but not off of the various pains lancing through his body. He was furious with the boy for denying an old man his innocent pleasures.

The three would have continued bad mouthing Ranma all night, but Kasumi had enough. She couldn't do anything overtly, but she could sabotage them indirectly. When they called for more sake, she cracked the seals and quickly slipped something she got off of Shampoo the last time she was there and dropped it in. She served the drunken fools and went back in the kitchen.

"Now she is a good and dutiful child." Genma said wit approval. Soun glowed at the praise. The men saluted her and drank down half their bottles in a toast to Kasumi before, as one, they passed out face first into the shogi board.

"Ah…Peace and quiet." She said with relief, but she was briefly worried about the interaction between the sleeping draught and the sake, but decided that a martial artist should be able to survive it. With that thought in mind, she went back to cleaning.

/-

The skies above Satan City were clear as the pigtailed boy flew overhead, trying to spot his errant fiancée. The girl was hard to find. What was really infuriating was that he caught a glimpse of her a few times, but by the time he got there she was gone. It was sort of disturbing that she should be able to hide that well.

Up ahead, something got his attention. It was Akane! She was floating in mid-air with that funny M on her forehead and she was dressed in what looked like a blue bodysuit with wraparound white chest armor, white gloves, and white boots. Her short hair seemed to have grown out to below shoulder length and her hair was bluer. The girl smiled and it actually went up to her eyes. Ranma stopped as he felt the powerful, lethal chi radiating from her.

"Hey Ranma." She said as he got within talking range.

"What's up Akane?" he asked. Mentally preparing himself for battle. The girl was dangerous with a capital "D". Her aura was simmering just below the surface, but the smile never left her face.

"Nothing much. As you can see I've become stronger. You should have treated me nice when you had the chance. Too bad for you." With a laugh she flew straight at him, clearly intent on taking his head off with one swing, but stared in shock as her fist was grabbed and a fist took her in the gut. Her breath exploded out as he released her, but a surprise spin kick tore into the side of his head, sending him spiraling through the air. He shook his head to clear it. When he looked at his homicidal fiancée she merely smirked, but otherwise appeared unharmed.

"You're right, you are better, but that doesn't change a thing. Just come home. Everyone misses you. Please. I wouldn't even be here if you weren't important to me." He figured kindness might work, but the derisive bark of laughter chilled him to the bone. He barely dodged in time to avoid the lightning fast mallet to the skull that would have killed him instantly. Ranma knew he had to get out of there, but she wouldn't just let him go that easy so he did the only thing he could do. He fought. Forget what his Pops said about not hitting girls, even if they might be weaker they can still do damage. Akane was case in point of why he should defend himself. When she came around to attack again, the boy was ready for her. A few furious blows took her in the stomach before a powerful uppercut struck her in the jaw and tossed her upward into the sky. Before she could reorient herself he grabbed her from behind, bending her arm up behind her back and an arm across her throat. The girl struggled, but couldn't get loose. With a furious growl, she managed to slam him in the crotch with her free hand, twist around and strike him in the face then using his momentum to hurl him head first into the ground outside the city.

"I always knew I was better! You should have realized that in the first place." She gloated before streaking off into the distance. The battered boy climbed painfully from the hole, a sharp spasm of pain running through his crotch. He unconsciously held back, but the feral glint in his eyes said that there would be no mercy next time.

Back at the Son house-

Nabiki was quickly learning how to clean. Sure, she knew the basics such as grab a broom and sweep, but the girl was learning things that she didn't know before. Chichi was working her to exhaustion. When the girl complained, the older woman said it was for her own good. When the woman said Nabiki should learn how to cook, the girl knew she meant that she better learn or else. The "or else" was never specified, but it had to be bad. The girl knew her cooking wasn't the best, but at least it wouldn't kill you. Still, the woman was determined that the girl would turn her cooking into a culinary masterpiece. As they worked together in the kitchen, Nabiki wondered if this was what it was like for Kasumi to learn from mother. She was rapidly beginning to value the woman's advice.

"Nabiki dear, what are your feelings for Ranma?" Chichi asked out of the blue, startling the girl. She nearly cut her own finger off, but quickly controlled herself.

"He's a dumb jock with fiancées chasing after him, chaos is attracted to him like a magnet, and people want to kill him." She said after a moment's thought. The woman smiled slyly.

"I asked for your feelings, not a description." The girl blushed as she realized she wouldn't be able to maneuver her way out of this. She had to compose herself, but it was hard to concentrate all of a sudden. Her thoughts went back to when the engagement had been switched to her. He had taken it so seriously and had been so sweet. She was actually surprised this guy was Ranma and even after it was switched back she watched him, but could see now that Ranma didn't deserve even a fraction of the beatings her dear little sister would give him. What she was probably mad about was the fact that he always spoke the truth and Akane never could stand the truth unless it was favorable towards her. In retrospect, the girl wished she could go back in time and hold onto him with all her might. It hurt even more than she expected it to. Nabiki knew Akane didn't love him or even like him, but they had been getting along out of necessity. Maybe if she was more honest she'd have a chance. With that in mind she finally decided to answer Chichi.

"He's sweet and caring. You know his word is good and he would do anything to help a friend. Those qualities are what attract me to him. I-I like him a lot. It's time I did what I should have done before." Nabiki smiled as she checked the miso soup, but a voice from behind her startled her out of her reverie.

"What should you have done?" Ranma asked as he walked in.

A few minutes earlier-

Ranma was flying back to the house like an airplane with two engines gone and weaving erratically. The pain was dying down, thankfully, but the dizziness was persistent. He once again asked himself why he allowed her to hurt him. He understood that right now she was possessed or under mind control, but that didn't stop him from remembering all the times she would hit him for no reason. His thoughts were on the women in his life. Sure, he missed everyone back in Nerima, but he was glad that they weren't here. Kasumi was an excellent cook and an even better listener, but he couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life with her. Then came Akane, no scratch that. Shampoo? File that under Fat Chance. While he was at it he threw Kodachi and Ukyou in there as well. What about Nabiki? The girl who constantly blackmailed him and basically held his debts over his head? Then again, he understood that he did owe her quite a bit. She always tried to provide for her family and he could respect that. If she managed to make some money off of him at least it was for a good cause. He began thinking seriously about her because otherwise the honor agreement between the families would never be honored and he actually liked the Tendos. The time the engagement was switched leapt to mind and he had to smile at the memory. They came so close to breaking through their shells, but it ended too soon in his opinion. Once again he ended up with Akane the Kitchen Destroyer and Fiancé Masher, doomed to be miserable again. Maybe he could give it a shot. After all, he couldn't be bossed around for the rest of his life.

"It's my life." He said with a smile and, with a burst of speed, flew back to the house. As he walked through the door he could hear Nabiki saying something to Chichi.

"…It's time I did what I should have done before." She said before leaning over a pot of miso soup that smelled heavenly, but he actually left his stomach behind to talk to her.

"What should you have done?" he asked. The girl seemed to jump, but kept her calm outwardly. He could tell that her aura was a whirl of emotions as she turned to look at him. Standing there in that apron with that slightly flushed expression made her look beautiful, but he knew that wasn't her and was glad of that. Without either of them realizing it, Chichi had left the room after discreetly turning off the stove and snagging Goten before he ran into the kitchen.

Nabiki's heart had leapt into her throat at hearing his voice just after confessing how she felt, but she was also secretly glad. She knew how hard it was for either of them to admit anything. His clothes looked beaten up, but he appeared no worse for the wear. She took a hesitant step forward before going up to him. Maybe a diversion would work?

"Are you okay?" she asked as she felt around for anything out of place, but he stopped her by taking her hands.

"You didn't answer my question." He said with gentle amusement. This was not the Ranma she was used to. This one was more open and seemed more at ease than she could remember. She sighed.

"Alright, I was remembering the time we were engaged. I…reallyenjoyedourtimetogetherandwishitcouldhavelastedlongerbecauseI'vesecretlyhadacrushonyou." She said in a rush. Ranma blinked.

"Excuse me?" he feigned ignorance. She snorted in exasperation.

"Fine! I really enjoyed our time together and wish it could have lasted longer because I've secretly had a crush on you. Happy?" she snapped. He looked stunned for a moment before his brain restarted.

"You have a crush on me?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yes I do and I'm sorry to bother you with it…" her irritation giving way to depression as, without a word, she turned to leave before feeling a pair of strong arms hold her from behind. She gasped, but leaned back into him with a happy sigh. The girl looked over her shoulder at him.

"I have a confession to make. I've had a crush on you as well." He said as he gently kissed her. The girl was briefly startled but soon returned the kiss eagerly.

"You certainly are interesting to have around, Ranma Saotome." Chichi said with a smirk as she went about serving lunch, leaving the two alone.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Mwahahahaha! A new chapter is done and I am a genius! With my bout of megalomania aside, I wish to thank all those who review whether it be good or bad. For the people who can't criticize properly and give two word reviews, your stuff is great for laughing at.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: This is for those who have doubted me. Do I ever do exactly as expected? The journal was Ranma's point of view. It hasn't even entered into his mind that Piccolo would hold back or that Gohan would either. Normally negative reviews don't bother me, but I figured I better set the record straight. Power wise I know that Piccolo could probably beat Frieza in final form easily and that Gohan could still kick Cell's ass. Ranma could probably defeat Frieza as well, but with a harder time than Piccolo. What makes him so different is the sheer level of skill he possesses. No offense to the Z Fighters (Krillin does kick ass), but even Ryoga uses more skill compared to some of them. I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but c'mon, it's just a story. Stories were written to entertain and that is what I love to do. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to discuss this with me, I'll be looking forward to it.

E-mail: time to get on with the story!

Chapter 4

The Tournament Begins

The feeling in the air at the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament was one of excitement. The festival air could do little else but make the group of participants and their families smile. Ranma and Nabiki were walking hand in hand, trailing slightly behind their friends as they went down memory lane. The pigtailed boy smiled down at the girl beside him which earned him a quick kiss. He made it so easy for her to be herself. They were in their own little world, recalling the events of the last few weeks before the tournament.

A couple weeks earlier-

Ranma's eyes widened in surprise as the fierce Namek suddenly disappeared before cracking him in the chest and hurtling him to the ground. Just before impact, the boy managed to right himself and fire off a ball of ki at Piccolo only to realize, too late, that the Namek warrior dodged. He dropped suddenly, avoiding a powerful kick to the back of the head, before zooming back up behind Piccolo and using the Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken, riddling Piccolo's back with blows. The two broke for air.

"N-not bad…" Ranma gasped with his trademark cocky grin.

"Hmph. You could be better." Piccolo said with his own grin that would have made even the Old Ghoul cringe before firing off balls of ki all around Ranma, but not hitting him. Ranma was weaving through them, trying to get close, when his danger sense went off and he finally took notice of the spheres floating in the air around him. The boy was surrounded.

"This can't be good…" he said to himself just as he heard Piccolo shout.

"Hell Zone Grenade!" he roared. Ranma quickly wrapped himself in his ki before releasing it outward into a sphere. The powerful Namek smirked at the last ditch attempt and waited for the dust to settle. As it cleared he could make out the boy still floating in the air, battered but not beaten, with a ball of blue ki in his hand. It was time to bring out his old tricks.

"Mouko Takabisha – Revised! Gattling Gun!" he flung the glowing sphere forward as another formed in his other hand, pumping his arms at Amaguriken speed, furious shots flying at Piccolo faster than he could dodge, pounding him relentlessly. Despite the pressure, his opponent flew towards the source of the attack, his fist glowing with ki, before reaching the eye of the storm and slamming Ranma in the face with the power laden punch. The boy cried out just before crashing into the ground with terrific force.

"Piccolo a hundred, Ranma zip." The Namek said from above.

"Sometimes I hate you…" the boy said with a loud groan before passing out.

/-

Piccolo had released all restraints and had urged Gohan to do the same, much to Ranma's annoyance. It seemed his teachers had been holding out on him and that didn't sit well with him. There was nothing he could do about it, however, but today would be a turning point. His teachers had been beating him relentlessly, whether training him or working out their own frustrations, he didn't know, but that was the day Yamcha arrived with Puar. That wouldn't have been so bad; the flying cat is a shape-shifter, but no one told them about the Neko-Ken. Puar, in typical fashion, flew up to meet Ranma during the boy's morning katas. She was friendly, but the boy took it badly and started gibbering in terror. He tried to fly away, but Gohan was in his path. He tried to go in another direction, but Piccolo was suddenly there. The two were concerned about what could scare Ranma like that; even Yamcha was there to see what was going on. Trapped. The cat was getting closer as the ring tightened around him. Voices, concerned, confused, but too many to deal with in the face of his worst fears brought to life. With an almost audible snap, his will broke.

"Meow." He said as he slipped into a strange, cat-like stance before barreling into the confused human, hurling him into the ground. He didn't get out of the crater.

"Ranma! What's going on?" Gohan asked in surprise as his friend's power seemed to surge into near Super Saiya-Jin range before quickly reaching similar levels, much to everyone's shock. Piccolo got too close as Ranma whipped out his ki claws and sliced through Piccolo like he was salami, his arms falling off in pieces as well as the area below mid torso. With a feral yowl, Neko Ranma blasted the already startled Namek through the remains of his chest with a focused burst of yellow ki. One threat neutralized, he turned to Gohan with murder in his eyes. Ranma was already mad at him for holding out; now the Neko-Ken was bringing that anger to the fore. The young half Saiya-jin gasped in astonishment as the crazed boy was in his face in an instant, punching him in the face with full force, dazing him, before a powerful head slam flung him across the sky. Gohan had only one chance and that was to use the power that could defeat Cell. With a mighty roar to the sky and a surge of power, he went into Super Saiya-Jin to finish the fight.

"Sorry pal, but you need to be stopped for your own good." He said. What it really translated to was that he needed to be stopped for their own continued health. With a loud "Hiyah!" he rushed forward at top speed to knock him out, but Neko Ranma simply flowed around the fist before unleashing a powerful back kick into his sternum, forcing the air from his lungs, and with a twist uppercutting him in the jaw, snapping his head up. The cat flowed away from his prey and circled him slowly. The son of Goku followed his movements warily, even though he was weakened by the sudden onslaught. Things weren't looking too good, but he was determined to press on. From the corner of his eye he noticed Piccolo rejoining the fight, his injuries gone completely. The Namek warrior held two fingers to his head. Gohan brought his hands to his forehead with splayed fingers; at a mutual nod the boy unleashed a Solar Flare just as Piccolo unleashed a Special Beam Cannon. The cat sensed the trouble, but was distracted by the pretty light before a searing pain tore through his consciousness, forcing him to the ground in pain.

"What's going on out here?" Nabiki cried as she rushed out of the house. She noticed that Gohan and Piccolo looked worse for the wear, but what drew her attention was Ranma hissing and arching his back in a cat-like manner. The Z Fighters drew closer, before the girl waved them off.

"Ranma sweetie, it's Nabiki. C'mere baby." She began cooing at him as if he were a cat. The Neko boy turned to the voice of his mate and purred happily. She knelt on the ground slowly as the cat boy crawled over, butting his head in her lap letting her pet him. Nabiki just kept cooing reassurances to him as he gradually drifted off to sleep curled in her lap. Yamcha dragged himself over with Puar, the cat was shocked. All parties concerned had to be reassured that he wasn't an evil alien. That was when the mercenary girl explained the Neko-Ken, enraging all present. With that story told, Piccolo came up with a brilliant idea for curing Ranma of his fear. It involved Puar, another trip to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and several lengths of rope. All present shuddered at Piccolo's proclamation of:

"I will cure him of this or he will die trying."

Present-

Ranma shuddered at the memory. He was okay around cats now and could slip into the Neko-ken at will, but the true terror would live on. Piccolo's torture-er-training techniques. The world was full of frightening things, scarier than the cats, and Piccolo was one of them. Puar was the one who actually cured him just by being kind to him, but the Namek was obsessed with beating the devil out of him. It made his father seem liberal by comparison. Nabiki looked to her boyfriend with concern.

"What is it?" she asked, breaking him from his reverie. He smiled.

"Nothing. Just thinking." He replied. The girl just shrugged before they finally rejoined their friends just as they were talking to this tall man with a halo over his head. He was introduced as Goku. The savior of the world. It made Ranma feel pretty insignificant until the man looked at his friends as well as his children.

"Hey guys! Glad to see that you haven't been slacking off in your training. Wow Gohan! You're stronger than when I saw ya last! How'd ya do it? You too Piccolo! This is gonna be the best ever!" he was as excitable as a kid, but it was infectious. His eldest son smiled before gesturing to Ranma, who still hadn't taken off his heavy clothing or shell. At the mighty warrior's insistence, he removed it all. He was wearing a black tee shirt with red cloth gi pants. He used a dyno cap to hold his stuff. Goku's eyes widened and he whistled appreciatively.

"You've been training my son?" Goku asked.

"No, I've been training with him, as well as Piccolo." He replied. He noticed that he had everyone looking at him. The boy toned his power level down, but they were still staring at his unbound power. Krillin grinned.

"Hey, he seems pretty strong. Are you some kind of lost Saiya-jin or something?" he joked.

"Nope. I'm human." He said before a child's splashed drink turned him into a girl. A rather built girl with clear muscle definition, but not bulky. Nabiki could only compare her appearance to an Amazon; her hair was longer as a result of the training and no access to scissors. She gave her disgruntled girlfriend a hug which cleared her mood. Everyone stared at the neat trick.

"Wow! That was cool! Hey, tell me about that as we go to the sign in desk." Goku said as he dragged them all along. As luck would have it, Ranma couldn't turn back to his guy form and had to register as "Ranko Saotome". The neo-girl shrugged and decided to live with it as they got ready for the initial strength tests. Their friends had to wait with the spectators. Nosebleeds were seen all around as Nabiki kissed her girlfriend before swaying her hips as she walked away. After the male population got over their discomfiture, Goku suggested they get over for the testing.

The line was fairly long, but Goku and the others were lucky since they were well known from previous tournaments so they got to go first. The only ones who weren't known were 18, Vegita, Ranko, Gohan, and Videl so they had to wait their turn. At Goku's insistence, they were to hold back from hitting the machine at full power. Even with gentle taps they were easily clearing the one hundred mark. It got up to Ranko. She frowned at the machine, but shrugged and listened to Goku. Just then Vegita grumped about waiting and slapped her on the back, her gentle tap turned into a startled strike that registered well over five hundred. Half the line left after seeing that, much to the redhead's embarrassment. The Prince of Saiya-Jins couldn't help but laugh as it came to his turn. Without even changing expression, he punched the machine hard enough to smash it into spare parts and bent metal. The neo-girl just shrugged her shoulders at his antics before noticing the peeved look on Gohan and Videl's faces. She quickly made her way into the stands to watch the children's tournament.

"How'd it go?" Goku asked as the martial artist girl joined them.

"Pretty good until "The Prince of Saiya-Jins" destroyed the machine." She said with a derisive sniff. Chichi had insisted that Ranma-chan learn proper manners. Before she knew it, however, Nabiki latched onto her from behind and smiled at her startled expression.

"Hi honey." She said to her then girlfriend. The redhead smirked before kissing her.

"Hey. Come to watch the kids?" she asked. The mercenary girl nodded as they turned to watch the fights heat up. Any fight that Trunks or Goten was involved with would usually end with their opponent losing, badly. When it finally came down to the inevitable battle between the two boys, the Z Fighters were watching in amazement as the young saiya-jin warriors abruptly transformed into Super Saiya-Jin and kicked the fight into overdrive. High speed chaos ensued until Trunks said that he would give himself a handicap and not use his left arm. Little Goten smiled gleefully before taking advantage of his opponent's willingness to limit himself by charging at full speed. Being chased by Ranma every day had made him very fast indeed. The purple haired boy didn't even have a chance to dodge the furiously powerful tackle that not only flung him out of the ring, but plowed a hole in the dirt. The fight was called in favor of Goten and his parents were certainly swelling with pride. Thus ended the junior division and everyone quickly forgot about the boys. Not exactly the wisest course of action that would haunt them later.

/-

The match ups were made. A climactic battle, best suited for the finale, was going to occur as the third match. The first match was Krillin versus a much larger opponent that looked like a giant red jinn. He was certainly agile and quick, but to Ranma's eye Mousse was faster than this guy. The short man smirked cockily as his opponent leapt for him. Too fast for the crowd to see, the formerly bald Z Fighter buried his fist in the red man's stomach before exiting the ring, one arm pumped in the air. If this was what they had to look forward to then the crowd definitely wanted more.

The next fight was a match between Ranko and a mystery fighter wearing a blue cloak, even obscuring the person's face. The fighter was called Mysterion X. The redheaded girl would have laughed if she hadn't felt the power radiating from the figure. Mysterion X laughed from under her cloak before whipping it off, revealing herself to Ranko.

"Hey Ranchan." Akane said mockingly, her cocky grin growing even wider. The outfit this time was a pair of loose black kung fu pants with black slippers as well as a blue Chinese top with a gold dragon embroidered over her left breast and snaking around her back with the tip of the tail curled around the right one, the shirt exposing her mid riff. Her longer hair was floating around her face as a pale blue confidence aura radiated from her.

"Akane." The girl sounded sad as she realized what she had to do. She hated hitting girls, but Akane was so powerful now that if she wasn't taken seriously then she would most likely move on to other people soon. As much as he hated the Kuno siblings, she wouldn't want them killed and that was just one of many examples. The cursed martial artist looked to the stands to see Nabiki with her head lowered. Maybe Ranma could show Akane the truth the only way she truly understands and that was through battle.

The cry to fight resulted in a virtual explosion of energies as the two rushed at each other. The fight was brutal. Devastating punches and kicks were delivered at speeds that defied mortal comprehension. Akane was slower than her flame haired opponent, but she could weather the powerful blows unlike her fiancée. Ranma pulled herself out of the crater she formed in the ring and watched as the enhanced girl walked towards her, surrounded in a blazing corona of power.

"Still can't bring yourself to go full out against a girl?" Akane asked scornfully. The neo girl shook her head as she realized what her violent fiancée said was true. It was time to stop playing around. The girl drew herself up to her full height, fists clenched at her sides before dropping into the horse stance, drawing her power in as she had seen Piccolo and Gohan do, realizing that they had the right idea all along.

"Forgive me, but I have to do this." She whispered as she felt her power surge just before charging the shocked girl at full speed before launching into a Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken that caught Akane in the stomach. At over several thousand punches a second, even Majin Akane's endurance couldn't protect her. The stricken girl clenched her fists into her stomach in pain as fingers had triggered pressure points to cause massive cramping. Ranma didn't have much time before she recovered, so with Amaguriken speed she struck several shiatsu points on the scalp, similar to the Xiao Fang Gou shiatsu, minus the shampoo, but she was using it to promote clarity of thought. With a final pressure point, she sent Akane into sleepy land. The fight was declared a win to Ranko, but before the medics could reach them; she scooped up her fallen fiancée and took off. She caught a glance of Nabiki's face and saw her relief. Her eyes strayed to the unconscious girl as she tried to think of a good place to deprogram her brainwashing.

/-

Kami's Lookout was as good a place as any to go, Ranma decided. Her mission was so important that she hadn't even looked for hot water. Akane had woken up a little while ago, but aside from some initial struggling, she behaved herself. The girl was clearly out of it and Ranma knew that it was because she had a lot on her mind. The clarity points were warring with the mind control, with the poor girl caught in the middle. Dende was already hurrying over to see what brought the boy there only to stop as the redhead set another girl down and immediately fret over her still form.

"What happened, Ranma?" he asked as Mr. Popo hurried over as well. The redhead seemed lost in thought as she studied the girl. The Kami of Earth sent his own probing thoughts in, but quickly withdrew at the sight of the chaos churning within her. He whispered quickly to the black jinn to prepare a bed for the girl as well as food for the pigtailed martial artist. With that taken care of, he finally managed to attract his friend's attention and guided him to an area where the battered girl could rest. After sending Ranma off to eat, the boy must be in dire straits to not even care if he turned back or not, he sat beside Akane's bed and held her hand. Perhaps he could see what was going on. His first attempt showed him total confusion, but maybe if he knew what to expect it wouldn't be such a problem. With that thought, he delved deep into Akane's thoughts…

Inside Akane's Mind-

The ruined landscape seemed dominated by two figures. The city below them resembled Nerima, but a small structure off to the left looked like some strange alien building. The two figures looked nearly identical except for their clothes and their hair. The one in blue with black hair was staring in anger at the figure in black with blue hair. At an unseen signal, the two combatants exploded into motion. The sounds of combat echoing and rebounding across the blasted cityscape struck Dende's sensitive ears. It was truly amazing to behold as the two spiritual beings, Akane's Yin and Yang, fought tooth and nail for dominance.

"Amazing, her will must be truly strong to last this long…" he remarked until he felt a third presence, overshadowed by the glowing beings in the sky. He turned his gaze towards the feeling and noticed another Akane, this one in gray, staring dejectedly upward at the combatants. Tears ran down her face as she watched, flinching whenever either one got hit. Suddenly the combat gave way to a lull that lead to talk.

"Leave her be, Demon! You're corrupting influence ends here!" the one in blue called out.

"Shut up you prissy bitch! She's mine Angel!" the one in black called back.

"You feed her hatred!"

"You preach weakness!"

The argument wore on, but neither one had anything truly inspired to say so the young Namek turned his attention back to the girl in grey. Her confusion was clearly evident. A sudden thought caught him and he realized she must be the core Akane. She was one the two were ultimately fighting over. It was she that would either realize her true potential or fall hopelessly into darkness. With that pleasant thought, he made his way over to her. The girl suddenly oriented on him even before he was visible. Her unnaturally sharp senses unnerved him, but her eyes were merely curious. They showed none of the fear that previously characterized them.

"Who are you?" she asked softly.

"I am Dende, a friend." He replied.

"Are you here to help me decide?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, but no. This is your decision. Ultimately it falls on how you want to live your life. Neither choice is truly better than the other. There is no right or wrong answer, just a choice." He was dimly aware that he had the Angel's attention as well as the Demon's. She better choose quickly because this was proving to a great strain on him as it is.

Core Akane pondered the implications. She knew she was brash, confident, and egotistical. She thought somewhat wryly that after all the times she accused Ranma of being the jerk that she was just as big a jerk as him. The opportunity to grow stronger than Ranma was too tempting to pass up. To be the best, even Ranma wouldn't sell his soul. The girl smiled sadly as she truly thought about it. The two who were fighting over her were both her. The Angel represented her honor and her desire to protect. The Demon was her anger, yes, but he was also her ambition. For two long she hadn't truly listened to her heart and chose one over the other, listening to only her own skewed reasoning. They were both her. The combatants landed lightly on either side of her and regarded her calmly. The girl smiled, making her other parts uncomfortable, until she embraced them both. With a flash, the three were gone, replaced by only one. Black hair with solid icy blue streaks trailed to just below her shoulders, her clothing was once again a blue Chinese silk shirt and black kung fu pants.

Dende was shell shocked, he expected her to choose one or the other, but she chose both instead. Well, whatever was in store for her would certainly be more interesting than being here. He noted that Nerima was instantly whole again.

"I think I'm ready to wake up now, but first…" the newly reborn Akane took off into the sky before bringing her right hand back as if to backhand someone before swinging it in a violent arc at the strange alien dwelling, blowing it away. An angry voice cried out furiously, but the girl merely smiled. It was all confusing to the guardian, but with a shrug he vanished.

/-

Ranma felt the massive ki buildup coming from the room she placed Akane in. Without even thinking about it, he nearly performed an Instant Transmission to be at her side. The instant she got there, the neo girl had to shield her eyes from the bright glow coming off of Akane. Dende was waking up from his meditation with a smile on his face. As the light cleared, Akane lay on the bed with her eyes open and a smile on her lips. The redhead made it over to the bed just in time for Akane to grab her fiancée by the back of the head and pull her into a kiss. The confused boy-turned-girl kissed her back in shock, but couldn't help but feel she was betraying Nabiki. She pulled back and stared at Akane. The M on her forehead was gone, but she somehow seemed to be unchanged.

"Y'know, you're girl side is cuter than you." She said slyly. Dende almost laughed out loud as he realized exactly **why** the two never got along. Akane had an instant crush on the redheaded girl and felt betrayed when she turned out to be a guy. Maybe he should mention the Dragon Balls? He noticed it when the two girls suddenly tensed up.

"Damn…I hoped I woke up sooner…" Akane muttered.

"What the hell just happened? I just felt Gohan's chi drop to almost zip and back up again!" Ranma exclaimed.

"I know what happened." She said, having everyone's attention before she spoke that fatal name.

"His name is Babidi."

End Chapter

Author's Notes: I loved writing this chapter! A lot of you expected Akane to die, but I aim to surprise. Be prepared for even more surprises, next on Dragon Fire!


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: This is revision number eight of this chapter. Revision sounds nicer than admitting that the computer kept corrupting the file. I enjoy writing stories, but if this computer keeps it up I may have to scrap this story for awhile. In this chapter we will be following Akane and Ranma as they deal with the events leading up to Buu's revival. Without further ado, let's get on with the show!

Dragon Fire

Chapter 5

The Road to Ruin

At Kami's Lookout-

Dende could only listen in horrified disbelief as Akane gave Ranma and him a detailed account of everything she knew. To find out that the Earth was once again in danger and it was because a being capable of destroying whole universes was about to be revived, while it wasn't new, was certainly unwelcome news. The Kami of Earth groaned as he thought about Cell and all the devastation he caused. At least the evil warriors were relatively weak compared to what the Z Fighters were used to challenging. The only one who worried him was Dabora and that was only because he worried Akane.

"So if this…Majin Buu awakens…we are all doomed?" the green skinned youth asked.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you." Akane said with a trace amount of irritation, but otherwise her temper remained intact. The redhead sitting beside her fidgeted, uncomfortably trying to get comfortable in the heavy shell and weighted clothing she was wearing. Finally she'd had enough and stood up, drawing two pairs of eyes as she shrugged out of the turtle shell and pulled her heavy red gi shirt off. The neo girl's eyes widened in shock as the weight dropped away and whatever was holding down her power suddenly released it.

"W-wow…" Ranma breathed in amazement before bouncing a bit and launching into a brief kata with a smile.

"Showoff." The violent girl said with good humor. Suddenly Dende sat forward, eyes wide.

"Guys, something's happened at the Tournament. Goku and the others will be near here any second. He asked if you would go with him, Ranma." The Namek said. Ranma nodded.

"Sure thing." The girl shrugged which caused her assets to bounce freely, almost giving Akane a minor nosebleed. Back when they lived together, it was easy to ignore her prominent attributes, but now the redhead looked older, taller, and stronger. Before she could swoon, Dende coughed politely.

"Ranma, you need to do something about your…" he gestured. What he was getting at wasn't hard to figure out. The neo girl normally would ask for hot water, but something told her there wasn't enough time and that ticked the girl off.

"What do you suggest?" she asked. With a wave of his hand something suddenly was cradling her breasts. She made an unmanly squeaking sound and checked her chest. What greeted her was a plain grey sports bra. If this was some of what was available then maybe being 'proper' once in a while wouldn't be so bad. Akane cleared her throat.

"What do I do?" the violent girl asked. It took all of a minute for Ranma to decide she should go back to the tournament. With their instructions firmly in mind, the two martial artists leapt off of the Lookout and took off. Akane back to the tournament and Ranma to visit Corrin, Dende suggested they would need senzu beans.

/-

The redhead hovered down warily, she may be ok with cats now, but old habits are hard to break. What greeted her was a giant white cat sitting on a staff, much like Cologne, but exuded a much friendlier aura. Blue eyes met slitted eyes, but unlike previous times she didn't stammer in fear or run away, but her reaction was infinitely more embarrassing. She purred. Corrin blinked in surprise before laughing heartily.

"O-oh my…That was certainly unexpected! So young lady, what can I do for you?" he asked her politely. This was certainly unexpected. She was used to being ogled in her girl form, but this was actually nice. The girl shook her head and banished that thought. It was so…girly.

"I was wondering if I could get some senzu beans. Dende sent me." The cat nodded and shouted for Yajirobe. The lazy samurai came out. He was short with wild black hair and a samurai sword at his waist. He tossed a nondescript little bag to Corrin who in turn passed it to Ranma.

"There should be about four in the bag so be careful with them." He admonished. The pigtailed girl noticed there seemed to be a string around the small bag. After some adjusting, she slipped the string around her neck and let the bag fall between her cleavage. The neo girl blinked at the strange sensation, but shrugged it off as she decided that it certainly couldn't have been in a safer place. With hurried thanks, she took off to meet Goku.

"What an interesting child. Hope he gets a handle on that curse soon." The cat muttered before going back to a subject of vital importance, where Yajirobe hid his catnip.

/-

Ranma caught up with the Z Fighters as they flew towards their confrontation with the forces of Babidi. As she drew nearer, she could faintly make out what they were talking about. Gohan seemed to be agitated about something, but it wasn't until she got closer that she began to hear what was being said.

"I hate being used for bait!" the young half saiya-jin growled. His father agreed, but was keeping his senses on full alert which is how he was the one to spot her first. As he began to drift back, the rest followed his change of direction to meet up with the neo girl. Kuririn, Piccolo, Goku, and Gohan seemed happy to see her, but Vegita merely scowled in annoyance. The other two, a big red-skinned fellow with white hair and a short purple-skinned one with white hair drifted over. The looks they were directing at her kind of reminded her of the Musk. If they kept that up she might just decide to rearrange a few things, she thought silently.

"Good timing Ranma! Glad you could make it." The mighty saiya-jin warrior smiled.

"Hey, happy to be of service. I also brought a little gift." She smiled as she drew the pouch from inside her black shirt before sliding it back in. The rest smiled as well, in relief. Someone had brought senzu beans. She explained that she only had four, but that didn't diminish their relief. Gohan slapped her on the back and seemed mildly startled when she didn't even grimace, but instead slapped him on the back and staggered him.

"If you're through playing, we must hurry to Babidi's lair." The purple man said before taking off. At Ranma's questioning look, Goku merely said they would explain on the way. The two who had recruited them are known as the Supreme Kai and Kibito. They came from the Planet of the Kai to stop Babidi and Majin Buu. The whole story was told, making the poor girl's head spin, but before she could ask any questions, they arrived. Apparently they arrived just in time to watch the drop off of the energy stealing container.

"Now we wait." Supreme Kai said. They settled down on the cliff ledges to watch the enemy lair.

/-

Akane was both thrilled and a little fearful. The thrill was that she was actually helping to save the world and fearful because of how Nabiki might react. Her own sister may not even forgive her, but she also knew that family protects family. The flight was mostly uneventful. She thought she saw a dual streak of gold fly by, but when she homed in her senses, she sensed nothing. It was a little weird, but it couldn't be helped. With a shrug she continued on her merry way. Her thoughts kept traveling back to Ranma. Sure, as a man he's handsome, but as a woman she's absolutely beautiful. It was maddening to realize how right the people at school were when they assumed she swung the other way, but it was also a relief. If there was only a way to get her own Ranko… She started to drift off course before she shook herself and kept flying. This was going to be a long flight.

/-

Nabiki was busily counting up her winnings. Betting against her own sister bothered her, but betting against Ranma was just plain stupid. It was fun pretending everything would work out and hanging all over Ranma because the fiancée brigade wasn't here, but pretty soon the usual roles would have to be reprised and it depressed her. Still, as long as Shampoo, Ukyou, or Kodachi didn't show up it would be okay. It seemed someone upstairs had a warped sense of humor. Before she'd gone another step she was accosted by the beautiful ladies in question. The girls looked like they were ready to kill.

"Mercenary Girl! Obstacles are for killing!" Shampoo cried.

"What're you doing with my Ranchan?" Ukyou shouted.

"How dare a low born peasant like you touch my Ranma-sama?" Kodachi shrieked. They were nearly unintelligible since the shouts came out at the same time, but the alleged Ice Queen got the drift. She looked around surreptitiously for anyone who could help her. The girls bunched themselves up for the attack when a voice, full of humor but with a slight tinge of malice, brought them up short.

"Well! If it isn't the hopeless trio! Ranma's not going to marry any of you and you think killing the one he cares about will change that? As if!" Akane sauntered into view. The girls' jaws dropped as she swayed in their direction. The blue Chinese silk shirt clung to her frame lightly, exposing her mid riff, black kung fu pants whispered against her legs as she approached. A gold embroidered dragon wound from her right breast, behind her back, and around her left. Her hair was blue and just below shoulders. Nabiki was actually scared of her baby sister until she felt something. She felt her chi! It was a new thing for her to be able to feel them, but her sister's felt good.

"Where Violent Girl get stronger?" the Chinese Amazon asked in confusion.

"Does it matter? Leave my sister alone or I'll be playing kick the bimbo." The humor vanished as if it never existed, her eyes flat and charged with power. Every fiber of Shampoo's body screamed "RUN!" but she wasn't about to let the Kitchen Destroyer beat her. Ukyou stepped up and brandished her battle spatula with a flourish, standing in a modified kendo stance.

"You couldn't have gotten stronger than me!" the chef girl declared. Akane favored her with a look full of scorn and pity. The blue-haired girl regarded her for a moment before absently catching a black rose. Her fingers were glowing faintly with power, igniting the surely lethal flower and burning it to a cinder.

"Do not ignore me you wretch!" the insane girl screamed as she whipped out her ribbon and flung it at Akane with blinding speed only to find it caught between the same two fingers as the rose, with much the same result. Kodachi stared in consternation as her signature weapon went up in smoke. Shampoo was trying frantically to get their attention before finally screaming.

"We need work together! Violent Girl is too too strong!" she whipped out twin Chinese broadswords, forgoing her favored bonborri for a better chance at killing. The rivals-turned-allies carefully assumed their stances while Akane merely stood there with a faint smirk on her face.

"Let's go." She said as she released a few restraints on her aura. A small crowd had gathered by this time and Nabiki decided to work the crowd. She knew that Akane would win and might actually give her a cut this time. The sound of war cries and martial arts yells drew everyone's attention back to the fight. Actually, it was a slaughter. Shampoo whirled in with both blades whistling only to find them trapped between that girl's damn fingers. With a casual smirk she snapped the blades off before kicking her in the stomach and hurtling her into a concession stand. The cotton candy falling onto her blended eerily with her hair.

"Yah!" Ukyou shouted out as she took advantage of Akane's distraction to nail her in the head with her spatula. A pain filled scream was her reward. She checked gleefully under her spatula only to find that she smashed Kodachi into the pavement. Her danger sense suddenly kicked into high gear, too late to help her though. With a negligent backhand she flung Ukyou right into Shampoo's lap, this time rupturing the frozen yogurt. Purple and peach fighting for dominance as the two girls painfully tried to move. The lunatic stared up in fascination as Akane stood over her. There was nothing she could do as she was lifted high above the violent girl's head and launched like a human projectile into the swirling mass of sugary goodness. The crowd applauded, but Akane looked like she wasn't finished yet. Her eyes roved over the crowd warily, luckily for her since a powerful blast of ki flew at her. If she hadn't brought her guard up it would have at the least hurt her and at the worst, incapacitated her.

"Very good child, but not as good as you may think. I sense you have grown in power, but it is nothing significant to the might of the Amazons." Cologne said haughtily. Outwardly she was discounting the girl's accomplishments, but on the inside she was downright amazed at the amount of control the girl was exhibiting.

"I'm not interested in fighting you. Let my sister be happy or I'll make you unhappy." Akane's power seemed to swell even more, much to the elder's consternation. She remembered the little boy all those years ago her friend Baba wanted her to see. He radiated power even when sleeping and it looked like Akane had attained a similar level.

"If you can defeat me, then the marriage will be nullified." She said as she stepped forward, staff extended. The fight was much more explosive than the fight between Akane and the other girls, forcing the crowd back even more. Three thousand years of Amazon tradition was up against a force of nature that was suddenly wielding a war hammer. Cologne dodged left as the hammer whistled down and shattered the ground. The shrunken mummy tried to leap away to get some room, but Akane easily followed her. The old ghoul expected it to be a leap, but was surprised when the girl hung in the sky.

"Defeating you will be no problem at this level." The girl said as her hair fanned out around her in power. The war hammer was glowing with a spark of ki before a powerful two-handed swing downward threw the bomb at Cologne with unbelievable speed. The matriarch tried to dodge, but discovered the blast was a feint to lead her into Akane's grasp. The war hammer struck her in the ribs violently before a downward toss ploughed out a trench. When she landed, she checked to see if the old woman was still alive. The limp elder was actually chuckling in the crater.

"I…expected son-in-law to beat me in battle…but it turned out to be you…" she coughed before continuing. "There is something I need you to do." Akane listened carefully, strangely certain that she was dying.

"B-become an elder of the Amazons…" she said before closing her eyes for the last time. It was a shell shocked Akane that left the crater, cradling Cologne's small form. Shampoo was staring at the still body with tears in her eyes and gently accepted the woman when Akane handed her over. The proud, young Amazon kneeled at Akane's feet with her head bowed.

"I am at your service…Elder." The words were spoken with emotion in her voice, but they were largely unheard as Akane collapsed to the ground, dimly hearing the screams from the stadium.

/-

The spying on the base should have been nice and boring, the enemy never even suspecting that they were there. That idea was shot to hell and stomped on repeatedly by the red devil that was known as Dabora. It was more of a feeling really that set Ranma off. The neo girl knew that her speed was dramatically increased as opposed to her guy half, but now she was experiencing something even more amazing and potent: women's intuition. The extreme sixth sense that all women have when something is about to go wrong or even if a child has dirt under their fingernails.

Gohan shifted uncomfortably for reasons he couldn't explain.

Right now this sense of wrongness was invading her thoughts and every fiber of her being. She had a split second to act just after Pwee Pwee destroyed the hillbilly Majins and before Dabora loomed in front of the startled Kibito. It was in that window that she called up her speed and unleashed a sharp stone at Amaguriken speed into the devil's eye. The stone buried itself deep in his eye; blood spurted even as he grabbed the wound with his hand. Everyone was suddenly on high alert as the demon roared in pain and hatred.

"Get goin'! I'll handle this piece o' shit." Ranma said with her trademark confident smirk. The Z Fighters took off towards Babidi's ship to brace the insane sorcerer in his own den.

Dabora had never experienced pain like this before. It lanced through his nerve endings, hot and shearing through his body, making him almost vomit. Pain was not something he was used to. He could dish it out, but rarely had to take it. The redhead floating before him was radiating power that would make most demons run in fear, especially when her fist clenched and four golden claws extended from her knuckles. She seemed almost feral.

"Bitch, if you don't fall down and prostrate yourself before me then I will kill you!" the wounded demon roared, hoping to cow the girl before him. Her smirk widened into an evil grin.

"You really should know that it's not wise to taunt your betters, Ryoga." Ranma teased as she built up her power level to above Dabora. She was currently using the first stage of the Neko-Ken. The demon lord didn't understand the comment, but he knew that it was an insult. With a cry of rage he whipped out his sword and prepared to cleave the redhead in two, but found his ki sword blocked by a fiercely glowing yellow claw. It was clear that Dabora held the greater strength, but the sheer tenacity of the young girl shocked him to the core. His eye throbbed with pain and sporadic spurts of blood dribbled down his cheek as he gritted his teeth. The girl's face was a mask of concentration as she fought his blade, but then a light bulb went off in her head. She suddenly grinned as she channeled her ki into her body, performing a full body Amaguriken and blurring away, the demon's own downward motion causing him to flip end over end. He got his equilibrium back just in time to get four glowing claws through his back. Dabora stared in horrified wonder at the gleaming blades casually thrust through him, but his rage granted him new strength. With everything he had, he quickly spun away; cutting himself open more, but his wounds suddenly began to disappear as darkness engulfed him.

"What was that about betters?" the demon asked with a horrible smile. His eye was once again perfect as was the rest of his body. Ranma suddenly had a horrified flashback to Saffron. This was turning out just like Saffron, the God of Phoenix Mountain. Her fear was mounting, especially when the sword suddenly pierced her stomach and was wrenched free. The girl hadn't even seen him move. Had he been playing with her? Of course he had been. With that realization she began remembering what happened at Jusendo and the terrible pain she felt there. A nearly invisible backhand caught her across the jaw, nearly snapping her neck and jarring several teeth loose, sent her spinning into the mountain, collapsing it upon her.

"Oh my, I seem to have broken my new toy…Perhaps there's enough left to play with?" he licked his lips lasciviously, but was startled to feel a rapidly strengthening aura from the mountain. Blue energy began shooting out from the pile of boulders, disintegrating rocks as it shot towards the sky. A stray beam fired into Dabora's stomach, burning a neat hole into his flesh. He grasped the wound in shock as the mountain erupted. The burning figure within exploded into the air, her ascension marked by terrific winds and cracking boulders, orbiting her body due the forces exerted upon them. The girl's hair was unbound and floating around her face. She was beautiful beyond belief, but more terrifying than anything he had ever seen previously.

"I'm tired of this…My friends need me and you're trying to keep me from them…No more…" her voice was almost a whisper, but Dabora could still hear her as clear as if she were right beside him. With a sudden explosion of power, she was in the startled demon's face, firing off a Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken attack, using her arms and legs to punish the reeling evil being. When he was dazed enough she brought her hands together and at her sides, a ball of ki forming in her palm.

"Ka…me…ha…me…HA!" the Turtle Destruction Wave fired out from her hands and into Dabora's chest, blowing through him as if he were paper, but before the attack could kill him he was engulfed in darkness and whisked away. The girl extended her senses to detect the evil one, but couldn't sense him nearby. How long had she been fighting? Hopefully she was in time to help Gohan and the others! Just as she was about to fly in, Dende contacted her.

Ranma! Get back to the stadium immediately! Vegita has gone crazy!- Ranma gasped, instantly knowing what happened. With a growl at Babidi's lair, she took off back the way she came.

"Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed…" she muttered. Whoever had said that first was right on the money.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Forgive this poor author for taking so long to update, but I hope it was worth it. Things are going a bit differently than in the series, but have no fear, I have many more ideas percolating in my brain. Thank you for reading! Ja ne!


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: Yay! The sun is shining and it's a beautiful day! So why the hell am I sitting inside writing? Simple, I go to a trade school during the day. Hence the sporadic updating. Well, without further ado…Let's get this party started!

Dragon Fire

Chapter 6

The Darkness

The sounds of screaming and someone shouting her name were the things that Akane woke up to. As she sat up, her bleary eyes took in the form of Shampoo and Nabiki sitting on either side of her. The sight of Cologne's body brought everything back to her and she once again felt dizzy, but fought it off.

"Stay down! Someone's attacking the stadium!" Nabiki warned, but she staggered to her feet anyway.

"Elder must not fight now. Must take Honored Grandmother home and stay safe." The once bubbly Amazon said with quiet desperation. She wasn't angry with Akane for killing her great grandmother. The Chinese girl understood the violent girl had no choice. Despite her pleas, however, Akane began to rise into the air.

"I'm sorry, but a martial artist must protect those weaker than themselves. Don't worry," she smirked "I'll be back." With that parting shot, she streaked off towards the stadium to give what aid that she could. As she approached, she saw a massive ball of golden ki fly for the stands and quickly launched herself in to intercept the attack. Her war hammer appeared, the upgraded form of her mallet, and she assumed a baseball player's stance before swinging the powerful ki weapon at the ball. The hammer impacted with the sphere and sent it hurtling into the sky, but the effort drained her somewhat. She gritted her teeth, but held on as she tried to see everything at once. Vegita was standing in the center of the ring with Goku, Gohan, and Supreme Kai standing in the ring. Piccolo and Kuririn were out of the fight; both were unconscious and not even twitching. The Prince of All Saiya-Jins wasn't even looking in her direction. He was so intent on taunting "Kakkarot" that he didn't seem to care what was happening. His hand suddenly shot out again and Akane's eyes traveled to where he was aiming. With speed born of desperation, she shot towards the place where he was about to fire, and placed herself in the path of the attack just as he unleashed another blast, but this time he was watching as the sphere fired off to destroy some more weaklings. Akane swung her hammer again and once again knocked the blast out of the park, but the backlash destroyed her construct and fried her. The once Majin girl hit the ground smoking, her eyes rolling back into her head as the nearly lethal attack washed over her. Her last conscious thought was:

"This just isn't my day…"

/-

"This just isn't my day…" was the thought echoed by the two girls trying to get into the stadium. The sheer wave of people trying to get out kept pushing the two of them back. Wrapped in a blanket that Shampoo had pulled out of stuff space was Cologne's body. It was her duty to ensure that the new elder made it back to the Amazons safely while ensuring that her departed relative's body remained intact. It was too much for the girl to bear; her eyes were stinging with tears as she wished she knew what to do. The throng of people pressed onto her from all sides and she was almost swept away in the sea of humanity before Nabiki grabbed her hand and pulled her onward. A particularly heavy bump jarred the arm carrying her precious burden and tore it from her grasp. With an inarticulate wail, she tried to break free and find her great grandmother, but somehow the mercenary girl grew stronger and pulled her beside her to whisper into her ear, miraculously heard above the shouts.

"Would she want you to die trying to find her already dead body?" the girl whispered and the fight into the stadium continued, Shampoo's tears streaming down her face. Nabiki felt terrible at having to say that, but often times we're forced to do things we don't want to do. She slipped her arm around the Chinese girl's shoulders to keep her from being pulled away from her. As soon as they got into the stadium, a horrible sight met their eyes. Half of the stadium was simply gone, not cracked or broken, but utterly annihilated. The rest of the stadium was almost empty except for the floorshow in the ring. The usual male bravado and macho posturing, but they didn't care to listen as they searched for Akane. They saw her laid out in a relatively unscathed portion of the stadium, cracks forming from where she landed.

"Akane!" Nabiki's heart felt like ice in her chest as the two girls rushed to check on the violent girl. When they got nearer, the smell of burnt flesh and fried hair assaulted their nostrils, but they reached her. A quick check at her jugular told the duo that she was alive, but judging by the injuries, she would be out for quite awhile. The arguing voices grew even louder forcing the girls to look towards the source.

"Fight me Kakkarot or watch those pretty little girls die!" Vegita held his hand out towards them, building up power, but before he could fire, Goku brought his hands up.

"Alright! I'll fight you, but not here. Babidi! I bet you can see the place I have in mind! Take us there!" Goku shouted. In a flash of light, the two saiya-jins were gone. Supreme Kai and Gohan were the only ones left in the ring, but a cry from above stopped them.

"Nabiki? Akane? Where are you?" Ranma's frantic voice was heard.

"We're down here!" Nabiki shouted to the sky, after a moment Ranma landed. The redhead spotted Shampoo just as the middle Tendo latched onto her. The purple-haired girl sighed as she gently brushed the hair from Akane's face. The whole incident was relayed to the neo girl. Just as the explanations were winding down, Kibito arrived. Ranma was glad because they only had four senzu beans, meaning that a healer was more than welcome.

"We don't have much time. The portal to Babidi has opened!" Supreme Kai called out as his comrade finished healing Ranma and Akane. There were no words to express what the two youths felt as Shampoo continued to weep for her departed kin.

"Go on and get out of here. I'll take care of Shampoo." Nabiki said before kissing her "girlfriend" one more time. She smiled at her baby sister before giving her a giant hug. Once again, there were no words, but at times like this, it's perfectly acceptable. The super powered youths leapt up to where the others were ready to brace the sorcerer in his lair. Without looking back, they jumped down the hole and into the heart of darkness.

"Take care…" the once mercenary girl whispered before guiding the grieving girl from the stadium.

/-

The final chamber of Babidi's spaceship was dominated by a huge incubator with a dial on the pedestal that was fluctuating wildly. Spikes of energy could be felt radiating from it and it moved faintly as if trying to hatch. The mad sorcerer laughed in delight even as the remaining warriors of Earth arrived to do battle. Another voice joined in with the laughter and Ranma felt her blood run cold even before Dabora stepped out from the shadows.

"So nice to see you again…" he barked with laughter. The diminutive sorcerer got control of himself before sneering at those assembled.

"You are too late! Even as we speak, Majin Buu is awakening! Those idiotic saiya-jins fighting is charging my creation rapidly! What can you possibly do to stop his revival?" he asked in condescending tones. The three teens began gathering in their power, much to the Supreme Kai's amazement, they were building up almost in unison. Ranma brought her hands back in an unfamiliar pattern as Gohan brought his cupped hands back while Akane suddenly manifested her war hammer.

"Go!" the three shouted at once. Ranma used a combination of the claws of the Neko-ken as well as the Yama-Sen-Ken's Kishin Raishu Dan, cleaving into the strange pink egg just as a Kamehameha fired into it, obscuring it in dust before Akane's war hammer slammed down, a powerful blast of energy erupting from the hammer's head. They had used up almost all of their reserves, but it was worth it. The trio smiled in triumph as they thought it was over, but malevolent laughter stopped their victory short.

"Thank you for completing his power up! We better go outside so that my lovely Buu has plenty of room to fight!" Babidi cried as he wove the spell to warp them outside. Once there, they had an unobstructed view of the incubator. Much to their horror, it was still intact, even if the dial was cut to pieces. The pink oval suddenly began taking shape as if it was a horror movie. It grew arms, legs, and a head. It was also inexplicably dressed in baggy white pants, like a jinn, wearing a vest and a cape. On his hands and feet were big gloves and big boots. He was enormously fat, but that didn't keep him from capering about and singing. If it weren't for the sheer amount of power he was radiating, he would have been almost comical.

"Now that my father's creation is here I guess I don't need you anymore Dabora!" the insane sorcerer cackled evilly, leaving his henchman to fume angrily. Dabora snarled in anger as he suddenly manifested his spear and charged the pink blob, ramming his spear through him. Everyone stared in shock at what just happened.

"Replace me will you? I'll destroy your toy!" he roared, before watching in fascination as the body seemed to contract a little. What was once the back became the front.

"Buu make you cookie!" the pink monstrosity shouted before touching the startled demon on the forehead with the tentacle on his head, turning him into a Dabora shaped cookie. His long tongue snaked out and he devoured the mighty demon.

"N-Nani?" the teens cried out as they watched what happened in horror. If this Majin Buu guy could do that, what else could he do? It wasn't going to be an easy fight, they knew, but they had no choice. They had to stop his evil even if they died doing it.

"No more fooling around!" Gohan cried as he unleashed the full power of the Super Saiya-Jin. His hair exploded into gold as his eyes turn a brilliant emerald green, he was a nuclear reactor of power ready to explode. Ranma joined him as she released all restraints on the Neko-ken, her hair flowing about her face as if blown by an invisible wind. Akane did her best to further power up, but even her efforts didn't go unrewarded. The ground beneath her cracked and fractured, small stones flowing around her body, held up by her corona of power. Babidi began to sweat a little as he felt their combined force in the back of his skull like a dull ache. His creation seemed unconcerned as the three powerhouses erupted into motion in a kicking, punching, melee frenzy. The bubblegum pink creature known as Buu absorbed heir attacks as if they were nothing. Upon seeing this, the evil sorcerer began to feel more confident, but another great power was streaking towards the scene.

"No! If all these powerful warriors converge on us then my poor Buu is doomed!" his fretting increased as a power greater than the approaching one also came to their location. Cries of shock and pain drew his attention as it looked as if Buu had trapped the trio in his magic bubblegum-like body and was unloading rapid fire shots into their faces just before manipulating his body to strike them simultaneously in their stomachs with blobs of his flesh, releasing them at the same time.

"Buu make you go bang bang!" he cried angrily as he swung his fist in a wide arc that blasted Gohan clear out of the battle area, but sent Ranma and Akane spiraling into the ground in opposite directions from each other. The teens shakily got to their feet. The redhead girl noticed that her half saiya-jin friend seemed to have vanished and came to the obvious conclusion. The pink freak destroyed him.

"Noooooo!" she cried to the heavens as she began glowing green and black with heavy depression energy. Akane saw what she was doing and did what she could to help the neo girl gain the needed power.

"R-Ranma…?" she called out weakly, clutching her side dramatically. The blue-eyed girl looked to her friend and former fiancée with pain on her face only to watch as Akane collapsed and didn't stir, her hand reaching out to her. That did it. Everything inside of her snapped as anger, hatred, pain, and depression warred with each other for dominance. In her right hand, a ball of pure red ki flared into existence as a green and black ball formed in her left hand. The two balls seemed to be fighting and fueling each other at the same time. She snarled in fury at the being in front of her. He seemed to realize something was about to go terribly wrong for him as the balls of energy erupted into pure waves of energy. Lightning arcing between the two streams as they plowed into the overstuffed pink wad, swelling him to tremendous size before the warring energies trapped inside finally exploded in a dome of pure dark red and green power that swirled into a tornado, splattering the pieces of Buu across the landscape. Just as the blast reached her, she named the attack.

"Broken Heart Blast…" before she was claimed by darkness and hurled away like a broken doll.

/-

The violent girl couldn't believe it. She had just helped Ranma kill Buu, but killed the redhead as well. The tears flowed down like rain as she thought about her actions. It was no use, she killed the neo girl. The grief nearly overwhelmed her just as Piccolo and Vegita arrived. Her fury replaced her sadness as she say the twisted sorcerer try to get away, but a hurled war hammer stopped him cold, blasting his legs out from under him.

"Wah! W-what is this?" Babidi screamed as he hit the ground in pain. Piccolo stood above him before firing down and destroying the cruel being. Vegita suddenly brought his head up as if he sensed something. Akane held her breath as the oppressive power of Majin Buu returned quickly with even greater fury than before. The pieces of the blob quickly shot back together, returning to the shape of their destroyer, and his smile was positively huge.

"Dad!" the voice caught them all off guard as they saw little Trunks and Goten suddenly streak in and land beside them.

"What are you doing here?" Akane shrieked in panic for the children.

"We can help! We're Super Saiya-Jins too!" Goten said confidently. Buu chose that moment to attack, but a Final Flash gave him other things to worry about. A decision was coming into his mind as he watched the hideous thing reform. He sighed and called his son to him.

"Yes dad?" Trunks went up to him and found himself pulled into a one-arm embrace from his father. It was so unexpected and unusual, but it felt good. It felt good until a sharp blow to his head sent him into unconsciousness. Goten grew furious and flew at Vegita.

"How could you do that? Daddies aren't supposed to hurt their kids! What kind of Daddy are you?" he was practically crying, but a punch to the stomach knocked him out as well.

"…Take care of them, Namek." Vegita said to Piccolo as he turned his attention to Buu once again. The green-skinned warrior understood and scooped up Trunks while Akane picked up Goten. The two looked back once at the proud Prince before taking off as fast as they could. Shortly after they left, a powerful explosion sundered the earth and erupted into the sky in a blast that rivaled Ranma's Broken Heart Blast. Akane lowered her head and cried.

"Akane…Take Trunks. I'm…going back to see about Vegita…" Piccolo said as he handed her the other child. She cradled the boys close as she took off once again as the Namek warrior went back to see his fallen comrade. Akane's tears trailed out behind her as she went back to the ruined stadium.

"…Ranma…" she thought with remorse as her lonely flight continued, the children held close.

/-

Consciousness came slowly to the redheaded girl as she fought to get up to her knees. The powerful eruption of energy had completely spent her energy, but it was worth it. The monster known as Majin Buu was no more and her friends were avenged. She smiled sadly, as she took stock of her surroundings before her eyes fixed on a figure in a black body suit with white boots. His energy was low, but Gohan was definitely alive. Later she would blame the female influences, but she quickly scrambled over and held him close. Her good friend was alive and the relief was almost too much to bear. When she remembered Akane, however, she nearly went back under, but suddenly a familiar flare of power could only be Akane! She wanted to fly, but her energy was spent. There were senzu beans around her neck, but before she could take one, Supreme Kai and Kibito found them. They were obviously relieved that the two of them were alive. Kibito gave them another healing, but they could feel his energy waning. Ranma blinked as she realized she was still holding Gohan and quickly let go, dumping him unceremoniously onto the ground.

"What the hell…?" he asked groggily as he sat up.

"It is good that we found you. Sadly, Vegita's sacrifice was wasted. Buu wasn't destroyed by the kamikaze attack." The kai bowed his head at the waste as did the others.

"What can we do now?" Ranma whispered wearily.

"Come back with us to the planet of the Kai. There is a lot that can be done to improve your already impressive skills." Supreme Kai said confidently. Kibito nodded.

"You are amazing warriors, but your potential hasn't even been tapped yet." He agreed.

"I need hot water to turn back into a guy…" Ranma grumbled. With a wave, the teakettle of hot water appeared over her head and upended. He had been reading about Jusenkyo and just had to see it in action. Well, it certainly was fascinating, but nowhere had he read that it created two separate beings. Gohan nearly had a nosebleed as he also took notice of the problem that was created. Ranma-kun grinned as he stretched.

"Now that's a lot better!" he almost kissed his bicep, but stopped as he saw what the others were staring at. If he weren't already sitting down then he would have collapsed in shock. An identical copy of his girl half was sitting beside him with her eyes closed, naked as a jaybird, she stretched languidly. That was too much for Gohan who collapsed backwards in a spray of nostril blood. Perhaps he should pass out as well. She turned to look at him with a bright smile.

"Hello Ranma…" she said. Yep, passing out sounded good, and he did.

/-

Ranko-chan took a moment to notice her state of dress (or undress as the case would be) and decided she definitely needed clothes. She fished the sports bra off her "brother's" chest since he didn't need it and began searching for pants as she put the bra on. Finally, she sighed in defeat.

"Need something to wear?" Supreme Kai asked. He was reluctant to cover up such a good-looking body, but he understood the necessity. When she nodded, he waved his hand and she was dressed in a red and black copy of his own outfit. Black over tunic, red trim, as well as a red shirt, red pants, and black boots. She noticed that a pair of red earrings dangled from her ears. The girl absently wondered what she did to deserve this, but kept it to herself.

"Wanna explain how I became my own person?" Ranko asked.

"Kibito?" the Supreme Kai turned it over to his lackey, uh, assistant Kibito.

"I would only heal you when you were injured, but the magic tends to repair what it considers damaged. The more I healed you, the more I healed your feminine chi. Eventually I had healed it so much that when Ranma was splashed with the hot water then you were born." The red-skinned man explained.

"So, essentially he's now my brother?" she asked. The two nodded. With a big smile, she gave her unconscious brother a hug. Her smile grew wider when he cuddled up to her. The Supreme Kai smiled and gestured for Kibito to pick up Gohan.

"We have to go." With a wave, they vanished. The only sign of their passing was the flattened grass.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Another chapter complete. I'm on a role today, ne? Two updates in such a short span of time. I'm trying to make up for all the time between chapters. I hope you enjoy this latest offering. I'll see you all again soon! Ja ne!


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z, but I do own a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh cards! Mwahahahahahaha-hack cough Ack…Sorry…

Author's Notes: A new chapter is upon you! Run in terror or read. You're choice. Now that I have drawn you into my web of superior storytelling (author's egomaniacal laughter heard here) let's get on with the show!

Dragon Fire

Chapter 7

Prelude to Chaos

The first impression the redheaded girl had of the planet of the Kai was that it had to be the most beautiful place she had ever seen. The greenery was so soft and inviting she could have lay down and fallen asleep in blissful comfort. Her brother was slung over her shoulder easily. He was actually heavier than he looked, but she was probably the strongest woman on Earth. When she was sure it was okay, she lay her brother down on the grass. Ranma looked so peaceful, Ranko thought as she checked on Gohan as well. Their hosts seemed to visibly relax as they looked around their home planet.

"When do you think they'll wake up?" she asked in concern.

"It shouldn't be too much longer." Kibito said. No sooner had he said it that the two boys began to wake up. Gohan rubbed his head as he sat up. The saiya-jin boy looked around in confusion before his eyes fell on the vision that had knocked him unconscious in the first place. The girl smiled at him, but before he could swoon again an image of Videl dispelled the image. He was a little more confused, but at least he could focus now. The pigtailed boy was staring at his new "sister" in openmouthed wonder. She grinned happily before scrambling into her brother's lap and giving him a big hug. Ranma instinctively hugged her back.

"Good morning guys." Ranko said cheerfully.

"Uhm…It wasn't a dream?" Ranma asked. The redhead shook her head.

"Where are we?" Gohan asked of the Supreme Kai. The explanation took some time and left the teens with a greater sense of wonder and confusion. The obvious question was why they were there, but the Supreme Kai explained that they were there for training. The power needed to defeat Buu would require a lot of hard work and discipline. The place they were going to start was mastering the Z Sword. The twins seemed less than enthusiastic about learning how to use a sword, but Gohan was genuinely excited about the prospect. With the promise of training also came a change of outfits for everyone. Ranko was already in her new outfit, but Ranma and Gohan still needed theirs. With a smile, she noticed how discomfited they were in their new finery. Supreme Kai showed them to the Z Sword and had them all try to lift it. Ranma went first and just barely managed to get it into the air for a practice swing. He had to admit it was an excellent weapon, but definitely not his style. Gohan took the sword next, but was having similar trouble with the weight. His own practice swing showed he had no kendo experience at all since the weapon flew out of his hands and landed between Ranko's legs. The girl gulped in apprehension at what almost happened. She tried to lift it next, but the point wouldn't even come off the ground. It frustrated her to no end to discover that she was that much weaker than her brother.

"You all will have plenty of time to grow stronger with it. Just because it is a weapon you do not use doesn't mean that you shouldn't work with it." The Kai admonished. The teens had to agree that he had a good point. The weapon was turning out to be quite a bit more of a challenge than they imagined. Over the next few weeks they would all grow to hate that beautiful, and weighty, sword.

Kami's Lookout-

Things were going from bad to worse for the remaining warriors of Earth. Goku was in a fit of rage over what Buu had done to his son and his friend Ranma. He glanced over at the girl, Akane, who sat holding the two boys in her lap. They were all at Kami's Lookout waiting to find out what was going on with the pink blob of goo. So far he had set up residence in an out of the way area and hadn't moved at all. There was nothing that could be done if he was capable of killing some of the planet's greatest warriors, but Goku had a plan that he revealed to everyone that same day. All the families were gathered to hear the brilliant idea.

"Remember the planet I ended up on before making it back to Earth? I had said that they had some truly amazing techniques besides the Instant Transmission. One of them is the technique that made them so formidable. The Fusion Dance." He waited as the assorted comments gradually subsided before continuing.

"It requires two people of similar ability and size. If the technique is done properly than a warrior should be created with the power and abilities of both warriors, using the best parts of both." The murmuring comments began again, but one question made the most sense.

"Who is going to do it?" Akane asked. Trunks and Goten were gradually coming out of their funk, but she held them anyway. Chichi smiled at the cute picture they made, but paid attention as well. Goku suddenly began sweating. Chichi was scary, but he had yet to see what this other girl could do. If it was anything like his wife, he better talk fast or the hurt would be coming.

"I propose Trunks and Goten. They're not only both half saiya-jin, but they have similar power and their friends as well." It was his best bet to just tell them the truth. The little boys jumped down with big smiles as they contemplated saving the world while the two women were flexing their fingers and giving the saiya-jin wonder murderous glares.

"Why can't you do it?" his wife asked. "I've already lost one son! I don't want to lose both!" Goku had nothing he could say to that. Bulma was reacting in much the same manner. Hearing about the recently deceased Gohan reminded Akane sharply of Ranma's death. She had told Nabiki and Shampoo about his death. The youngest Tendo was so busy comforting the children and the two girls that she had no time to grieve. The pain was growing and there was no help for it. The boys caught in the middle finally had enough of the arguing.

"We'll do it alright? Don't we get a say in it? My dad's dead and his brother's dead. We need to show that pink thing whose boss!" Trunks declared and slapped his friend's shoulder. The two nodded together, setting their mothers off into fresh wails of grief and pride. It was too much for the blue-haired girl as she stepped outside of the main pavilion to sit with the other two girls. Nabiki sat on the edge with her legs dangling over the side while Shampoo sat against her side, her knees drawn up to her chest. The grief washed over the Chinese girl in waves that threatened to drown her. First her great grandmother was dead, now her airen was gone, who would be next? The Amazon girl stood up and stepped closer to the edge, her hair swirling around her face as she came up with a great idea. She could join them on the other side. Nabiki looked up at her in confusion, but realization gradually came to her as she sees the muscles in the girl's legs bunch up slightly.

"Shampoo don't!" Nabiki cried as she leapt up, but she was too late. With a peaceful smile she plummeted off of the Lookout. A blue streak shot by that could only be Akane and flew down after her. The mercenary girl watched in stunned fascination as her baby sister pulled a Superman and caught the falling girl. A breath was released that she hadn't realized she was holding just before she collapsed in relief. Too many people that they knew were dying, even worse was that Ranma had died. It was silly, but if the Amazon were gone it would have almost been like he was dead all over again.

"Thank the kami…" she whispered fervently.

/-

Akane had seen the girl plummet and was instantly after her. The Chinese girl should have thought it out better if she was going to commit suicide since she was now faster, stronger, and better than she ever was. Shampoo reacted much like she expected. The distraught girl punched Akane in the face repeatedly, not even caring if no damage was done. The tears fell down as the violent girl held her former rival close, trying to soothe her as best as she could, but she would have none of it.

"Let me go! I want to die and be with Great Grandmother and Airen!" she wailed in agony. There was only one thing to do.

"Shampoo, who am I?" Akane asked.

"You Violent Girl…Akane Tendo…Why you forget that?" she asked in a confused voice.

"No, who else am I?"

"Y-you also elder…." Shampoo lowered her head. On an impulse, Akane kissed her forehead.

"That's right." She told the startled girl. "As elder I order you not to kill yourself directly or indirectly." The purple-haired girl boggled at her former rival with a measure of respect.

"As you wish." She acquiesced, suddenly realizing where she was and that Akane had actually saved her. The girl holding her was so strong, much stronger than herself. It had to have been because Akane was just better than her. Perhaps she should find out why that was the case. Could it be because she genuinely cares, despite her temper? She had never felt so small or so lost. A warm hug brought her back from the abyss of dark thoughts as a finger gently smoothed away her tears.

"I'm not any happier about this than you are, but whether we like it or not, we need each other. You need me to an elder and I'm going to need actual Amazon training. Deal?" Akane asked softly. The girl nodded her head softly before snuggling into the "elder's" protective arms.

"You want training…Fine, but all the techniques you will require would take too long to teach you." Shampoo said, her poor Japanese a myth as she began explaining about what would be involved. The girls would need to go back to the Nekohanten to collect the Amazon scrolls and to set things in motion back home in China.

"Okay, but we'll take Nabiki with us since we may need to have someone who can think clearly." The blue-haired girl said. As much as she wanted to say no to the girl's request, it made a lot of sense. Admitting they needed an outsider's help was terrible, but floundering about was even worse than that. Then again, an Amazon elder that was an outsider and not even twenty yet was pretty bad. When they got back up to the Lookout, Nabiki was still sitting there. The idea was discussed with the one with business sense and a more cunning mind than most criminal masterminds. The middle Tendo had to admit that the idea had a lot of merit. When asked how they would get there, she was informed that they would be flying. That didn't sit too well with her until Shampoo volunteered to piggy-back while Akane carried her sister.

"This had better not be a mistake." Nabiki warned. Her sister merely smiled.

"Hang on!" two female screams and one maniacal laugh suddenly trailed off into the sunset at twice the speed of sound.

Kai Planet-

Training with the Z Sword was difficult to say the least. Since there was only one, the three teens were using the sword in shifts while the other two would spar with each other. The Supreme Kai could only gape in amazement as they progressed by leaps and bounds. Gohan had mixed blood, saiya-jin and human, while Ranma and Ranko had superior genetics on their side. It was a lesson that the Supreme Being would remember forever. Never underestimate the potential of anyone.

Currently it was the redheaded girl who was using the sword and quickly becoming proficient with it. She could make it sing as it flowed through the air, taking all of her strength and dexterity to keep it under control. Ranko would have loved to have a sword like this, perhaps not as heavy, but definitely as sharp. Her attention was focused solely on the blade as she slowly became one with the weapon, feeling what the sword masters and kendoists she trained under describe as the sword becoming an extension of herself. The sword was held low in a two-handed grip before she flew at an invisible foe, slashing down with enough speed and force that it cleaved the air and the grass before her. A row of grass in a five hundred yard line in front of her was smashed flat by the powerful wind. She congratulated herself before taking out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead and to look over at where the boys were playing. It looked as if Gohan was growing stronger by the second while Ranma was doing much the same. If she remembered the rotation, then it was Gohan next. She smiled happily as she realized she was sparring with her brother next. Today was a good day.

/-

Ranma grinned as he deflected another shot from his friend before quickly seeking to take advantage of the break in concentration to land a hit in. His next attack was a straight, powerful blow for Gohan's midsection, but after months of training with the pigtailed boy he wasn't taken in so easily. It turned into another rapid series of blows and counterblows that would be impossible to see unless you had skill and power similar to theirs. The two were growing closer to the edge. Non stop sparring for hours at a time did wonders for stamina, but they knew that if they were to complete this set than they needed to kick it up a notch.

"Ready?" Gohan asked with a grin.

"Only if you are!" Ranma replied with a matching one. The boys quickly adopted similar stances as they began drawing upon the massive well of power inside each of them. Their growing power began darkening the sky. The half saiya-jin's hair abruptly turned gold and his eyes turned green. Ranma smirked as his hair seemed to float up and freeze in a similar spiky manner, only without the color changes as he entered the first stage of the Neko-ken. With shouts that echoed across the landscape, the two juggernauts leapt back into the fray. Their manners making it appear as if they were genuinely trying to kill each other, but their smiles said otherwise. Still, this form of training is called "Training under critical conditions". It calls for going beyond your endurance, beyond your own limits, to call forth greater power and focus. To the uninitiated it looks like they're simply trying to slaughter each other. The Supreme Kai blanched at the sheer amount of power they were radiating. Neko Ranma fought tooth and nail against Super Saiya-Jin Gohan. Just as the pigtailed boy unleashed a Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken, Gohan used his own, further proving that not only Ranma can learn techniques just by watching them. Thousands upon thousands of blows rained down on both of them. As they broke apart, Ranma's hands were together with a ball of glowing ki forming just as Gohan brought his hands to his sides.

"Mouko Takabisha!" Ranma cried out as Gohan shouted.

"Kamehameha!" and throwing his hands forward. The two attacks clashed violently, blue versus gold, the boys straining to force their attacks to overwhelm the other. At the last second, Gohan surged into SSJ two and hurling his Turtle Destruction Wave through the Proud Tiger's Roar, blowing Ranma out of the sky. The startled boy was shocked beyond belief as he contemplated the birdies flying around his head.

"The score's tied at four wins each." Kibito said as he trudged wearily to heal the overactive martial artists.

Nekohanten, Nerima-

Mousse could barely restrain his joy at finding out two of the banes of his existence were gone, but with that fleeting happiness came a deeper sadness as he realized they were gone. He had finally got what he wanted, but it shouldn't have been like this. Saotome wasn't such a bad guy. He was an arrogant jerk and was too full of himself, but there was no denying that if you needed help he was there. Cologne, that was one tough old mummy, but she possessed insight and knowledge that had seen them through many difficult situations. Why does it always have to be that no one realizes these things until after the person's gone? He puttered in the kitchen making food for the three ladies waiting in Cologne's office. The myopic boy never thought he'd see the day when Akane would humble Shampoo or Nabiki not trying to scam someone just for the right to talk to her.

"The Apocalypse is upon us…" he muttered as he deftly served the ramen and scooped up the tea set before heading upstairs to the young women who frequently turn his life on it's head.

/-

Akane didn't particularly enjoy sitting in the old elder's chair, it reminded her too much of a throne. It was a large, leather affair with a high back and thick armrests. The whole thing was comfortable, but was obviously made to exalt a shorter person. Shampoo was trying to lever to lower the seat. With a small cry of triumph the chair lowered to manageable levels. Nabiki was busy poring over the books and was amazed to see just how much the restaurant raked in. Perhaps it wasn't the right time to think about this, but it had to be thought of eventually.

"Yen for your thoughts." Her little sister asked with tired humor.

"Something will need to be done about the restaurant." Nabiki said. Shampoo sighed sadly as she thought about it.

"Great Grandmother loved this place. Even if Airen had chosen me, we would not have returned to China. She loved it too much in Japan. I love it here as well. So many strange things and new experiences, but with her gone I have to go back." The purple-haired girl was on the verge of tears as she stood beside her Great Grandmother's chair. Akane slipped her arm around the girl's waist and gave her a one-armed hug.

"If I have anything to say about it, you won't be going back there." She said with determination. The Chinese girl gaped in astonishment. If anyone had told her when she had ruined Akane's wedding that they would be here in the Nekohanten and the violent girl would be actually friendly, if not caring, she would have suggested they get their head examined.

"Good to hear. I'm tired of being a second class citizen." Mousse said as he entered and set the trays down.

Further conversation was halted as the four teens stopped to eat. It was nice really. No fighting, no potions, no plots, and no stupid rivalries, but the cost was too high. There was a strange sort of peace as they forgot their problems, but it couldn't last forever. Just as they were relaxing a huge explosion rocked the street outside the Nekohanten accompanied closely by screams. The teens ran to the window in time to see Herb float by carrying a protesting Kasumi over his shoulder. Someone was trying to stop him. Akane extended her senses and could clearly feel it was Ryoga.

"Oh kami-sama…Kasumi!" Nabiki cried out in panic, but her sister merely glowered darkly. The martial artist girl opened the window before leaping out into the air. Mousse tried to stop her, but stared in astonishment as the new elder floated easily in the air and went out to join the battle.

/-

"Put Kasumi down now jerk!" Ryoga cried as he hurled a Shishi Hokodan straight for the Dragon King. The blast struck him dead on in the chest, but didn't affect him at all. The Lost Boy seethed, he had no way to stop this guy, but then his gaze rested on Akane. She was floating behind Herb, enshrouded in a corona of power, scowling fiercely. The King of the Musk turned to look at who would dare sneak up behind him, causing him to almost drop Kasumi in shock.

"A-Akane?" Kasumi cried out in shock and relief.

"Silence!" to his captive, to Akane "Stay out of this! She will be my bride and bear many strong children." He said with utter confidence and arrogance. He would have continued, but a fist to the gut left him gasping for air. His eyes reoriented on the girl only to notice that his prize had been stolen as well. She was visibly enraged, her power rolling off her in waves.

"I'll deal with you shortly." She promised in a low voice as she handed Kasumi off to Mousse through the window. She looked to Ryoga and gestured for him to scram, but he stubbornly held his place. The blue-haired girl sighed; she had tried to warn him.

"You ignorant little bitch! Perhaps you'd like to be my bride instead…I promise not to be too rough." He said with a sneer just before catching the snap kick to the face with his left hand as he unleashed a devastating punch with his right hand to her face. Much to his chagrin, she not only took the punch, but bruised his knuckles in the process. With a sneer, she returned the face, but managed to hurt him. His nose smeared and blood poured free, which would have been good enough, but a powerful uppercut tore into his jaw and hurtled him into the sky. The Dragon stopped his rapid ascent quite easily before gathering power. Akane was in a mild state of shock as his power easily soared into her range. With a roar of "Die!" he plummeted towards her at incredible speeds before plowing into her skull and knocking her into the pavement. He began unleashing ki knives at her in a veritable storm, but a quickly raised ki shield deflected the worst of the damage, still cutting her arms and chest lightly.

"Not bad…" she admitted grudgingly as she got back to her feet. With a flourish, instead of her war hammer, she conjured up a ki samurai sword. If he wanted to play rough then she couldn't afford to not do the same. Quickly ascending once more, a series of lightning fast sword strokes put him on the defensive before a hastily conjured ball of blue ki pounded into his chest. Herb growled as he whipped out a Chinese broadsword and began an assault of his own. It was quickly apparent to the martial artists watching that Herb was relying on sheer strength whereas Akane was using her greater speed and dexterity. The battle could have gone either way, but a startled "bwee!" drew their attention. A tiny black piglet with a tiger pattern bandanna was huddled in abject terror of the battle. If Ryoga had been human, it wouldn't have bothered him to be at ground zero, but he was infinitely more fragile now.

"P – chan?" Akane screamed. She knew she needed to end the fight, but she had been having fun. The girl noticed her two sisters watching from the window of the restaurant with worry in their gazes. They didn't know she could win at any time, but now she had to do it. She gripped the sword in both hands, shifting it into the war hammer. Herb's distraction would prove fatal as she gathered all her power into her hammer. The attack that not even Ranma could dodge. An assured victory. The Dragon's ears picked up a words that were frightening to all those who know their import.

"Herb no Baka!" she screamed as she swung her hammer up with all her might into her opponent's stomach, hurtling all the back to China. With a casual twirl of her weapon, she went back inside the Nekohanten.

Kai Planet-

Goku had arrived sometime after their heavy training began with a sheepish grin. When asked how it happened, he explained about the Fusion Dance and everything that had gone on. He had used up all the energy he had been allocated for the tournament, but was allowed to go to where his son was. Finding out he wasn't dead was a pleasant surprise, but seeing the twins almost gave him heart failure. They managed to explain everything that had happened to them since the Supreme Kai brought them there for training. As they got caught up, Gohan decided to show his dad what he had learned. The sword moved with grace and speed through the air as the boy went through the sword katas that Ranma and Ranko had taught him. It was obvious that somehow they were two distinct people and not clones of each other. When asked about that, it turned out that Ranko was always inside of Ranma. She was the collection of nearly everything he had either repressed or didn't want to face. Now she could be her own person. Goku was really curious about how strong the sword was.

"The Z Sword is able to cut through nearly anything." The Supreme Kai insisted.

"Well let's test it out!" Goku said enthusiastically. Kibito rolled his eyes as he prepared to witness childish behavior at it's most immature. Ranma and Ranko shared a worried glance, but Gohan merely grinned. The Kai brought his hand up and a huge block of some strange metal appeared above his head. With a light push he tossed it to Goku who caught it with quite a bit of effort.

"This metal is Kachine, the strongest metal in the whole universe." Supreme Kai explained. The Saiya-jin warrior blinked at the extremely heavy block and quickly turned to Super Saiya-Jin just to lift it. He prepared to pitch it like a baseball just as Gohan dropped into a batter up stance. The air of worry was growing, but failed to penetrate the Saiya-jins' and Kai's boyish enthusiasm. The first (and only) pitch resulted in disaster. The sword snapped in half as it tried to deflect the rapidly flying block of metal. Sweatdrops abounded.

"No! How is this possible? The Z Sword shouldn't break!" The Supreme Kai said in horror.

"W-when they say it's the strongest metal they ain't kidding…" Goku laughed nervously. Gohan blinked before dropped the hilt in shock. Ranma was watching his sister as she teared up over the loss of her favorite sword and gave her a hug.

"D-dad we b-broke it…" Gohan was stammering in a panic, but then Goku calmed down somewhat.

"Then again, maybe it wasn't the sword that was to defeat Buu, but the training you got just from wielding it. You do feel a hell of a lot more powerful now." His son blinked and checked himself before exclaiming.

"You're right! Wow! I never felt so strong!" he grinned and began throwing practice punches.

"That's great, but you broke the sword! I really liked that sword too…" Ranko said dejectedly.

"A sword is what you want? Then you can have one." The Supreme Kai said as he waved. A sheathed sword appeared on her back. The sheath was black with silver trim. The sword hilt and pommel were silver while the grip was lack. She squealed happily and whipped it out of it's sheathe, slashing thousands of times at near Amaguriken speed. What they failed to notice was the grass rippling from invisible waves. A voice startled them from their thoughts.

"What's going on here?" a wheezing, cantankerous voice asked. They turned to stare in shock at an old purple-skinned man that looked like an ancient Supreme Kai.

"A-an elder K-kai…" Supreme Kai stammered. The others continued to stare at the old man that had appeared out of nowhere…

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Whew…I know that it seems like the plot is moving a bit fast, but it always bugged me in DBZ when they would do all that buildup and then continue it next time. Don't get me wrong, I love the show, but some of those sagas could have been shorter. Whew, sorry for ranting. Thank you all for reading! Ja ne!


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: Another chapter in such a short time! It is a reason to celebrate. Turns out it wasn't the computer it was the disk. I hope no one's complaining about this not being a word-for-word rehash of the Buu Saga because that's what I'm trying to avoid. If you're wondering how the power levels stand then take in consideration a few things. Gohan, Ranma, and Ranko had all been training with the Z Sword and sparring with each other for some time. If the powers seem a little crazy it's only because I'm taking into account the whole thing against Saffron. A human, no matter how well trained, cannot defeat a god. At least logically, but the heart plays a big part as well. Logic tends to take a back seat to heart. If a person has the belief and the heart then anything is possible. Well, enough of my lecturing, let's get this show on the road!

Dragon Fire

Chapter 8

Enter the Majin

Kai Planet-

The Old Kai was having the time of his life as he watched the three teens spar. He had only disparaging comments for the younger Kai seeing as how it had been someone other than a Kai who broke the Z Sword. As it turned out, the Z Sword had been his prison. His enemies had trapped him inside the sword because of a fearsome special ability he possessed. When Gohan and Goku, who still hadn't learned their lesson, tried to test the elder with a small ki ball, all that happened was a blast to the face and the Old Kai screaming at them. Ranma and Ranko were almost rolling on the ground laughing, but the next words brought them up short. The Old Kai had an evil smile on his face as he leaned in to explain to his audience about his power.

"You see, the reason they feared me so much was because of my ability to awaken the sleeping powers within someone. I could turn a kitten into a lion with my ability." News like that got their attention all right as they clambered around the old one.

"Wow! Could you do that for one of us?" Gohan asked enthusiastically. The Old Kai peered over them all in turn, roving his eyes along Ranko's body a few times for good measure, before announcing that he could sense immense potential within the teenagers. Before they could celebrate, he also refused to do it.

"B-but the Earth is in danger from Majin Buu!" The Supreme Kai said in a voice filled with shock.

"I don't care. I got blasted for no reason. Unless you can find a girl to kiss me." He said slyly. He practically giggled in delight at the prospect. The only girl there was Ranko and they needed to defeat Buu. With the air of someone making a grave sacrifice she sashayed up to the Old Kai. Seeing that she had his attention, she turned on the heat. When she licked her lips she knew he was hers. The poor Kai seemed as if he was about to go into cardiac arrest before she kissed him, full on the mouth. Fireworks seemed to go off around the perverted old man before she pulled back and sauntered back to her brother, wiping her mouth when she figured he wasn't looking. All the males reacted in different ways. Goku, Kibito, Supreme Kai, and Goku all whistled in admiration while Ranma seethed at his sister's seeming prostitution. The old guy coughed a few times before announcing that he had been convinced. Ranko was certain that her sword would have convinced him.

"All right then…Time for the warm up…" he gathered in his breath before screaming in the trio's faces.

"WAKE UP YOU LAZY SLEEPING POWERS! TIME TO RISE AND SHINE!" he continued screaming for another several minutes before stopping for a breath. The teens gasped. Just when they thought he would continue, he ordered them to stay where they were. With that, he began pacing around them in a big circle chanting mumbo jumbo. When questioned by Goku he nearly tore the man's head off with his scream that it would take several hours. The Saiya-jin warrior had experience with irate people and did what he thought was best. He went to sleep.

"Think this will work?" Ranko whispered.

"I don't see why it shouldn't." Ranma replied.

"Seems kind of silly to me." Gohan commented, apparently a little too loudly because a rock bounced off his head with more than a little force. The boy rubbed the sore spot ruefully, but kept his peace after that. Supreme Kai and Kibito sat in front of a large crystal ball to watch the goings on down on Earth. Buu had reached Kami's Lookout and was apparently waiting for something. Just as it couldn't have gotten any tenser, Akane flew in.

"…I don't think the Earth has a few hours…" Supreme Kai said to Kibito. The red skinned man was glad he was a man of few words.

Kami's Lookout-

Akane had managed to get her family to safety and then shook herself as she realized she had counted Genma, Shampoo, Mousse, and Ukyou to the family list. Apparently everything they had been through together had brought them closer than she initially thought. She had been worried about Ukyou, but it turned out she was fine. Konatsu had shown up shortly after Akane had managed to get them to the reinforced bunker in Tokyo that had been constructed to stop Cell. It actually had a chance of succeeding. Due to collaboration with Capsule Corp, it had a force field generator that could withstand near Super Saiya-Jin force. Meaning it could deflect a significant portion of damage before the titanium bunker got hit, the outer shell hopefully weathering the rest. The blue-haired warrior hoped that it would not have to be tested.

"Why did you have to die Ranma…?" she asked, nearly in despair, but shook it off. Depression would not help at this stage. As she neared Kami's Lookout, she saw a sight she desperately did not want to see, Majin Buu. The fat, pink blob seemed to have changed shape. He was a bit skinnier and taller, his arms hung down and had black bracers, and he was wearing the same pants he always did. His head antenna was huge and it trailed down his back. The frightening figure was crouched, staring at an hourglass. Suddenly he surged to his feet.

"Buu grow tired of this! Where is the warrior for me to fight?" he raged. Everyone had already gotten as far from his as they could go. In his fury, he unleashed his power on an unsuspecting world.

"Human Extinction Attack!" he roared as he unleashed thousands upon thousands of pink spheres all over the planet. The sheer devastation could be felt by any with even a modicum of ki talent. The sensation of so many people dying at once made the girl sick as she landed out of the monster's sight. What drove her over the edge was the sudden feeling of her family disappearing. The scream of rage that exploded from within her shattered the stones around her, drawing Buu's attention to her, but too late to stop the impact of war hammer with his rubbery head. The massive burst of power blew the pink terror's upper body apart, his legs wobbling independently. The terror of the Earth wasn't defeated, not by a long shot, but at least he seemed to be slowed down. Her victory was short-lived however, as soon as the goo splattered on the ground; it was already flying back into the main mass. Within seconds, Super Buu was back in action.

"Well that went about how I expected it to…" she muttered. The girl could always hope that a good hammer blow would have finished him, but she knew it would take everything she had just to survive his first attack.

"Hrnh…You're the strong warrior that was promised?" he asked quizzically before his face lit up with a hideous grin. With speed far greater than his form would suggest, he struck Akane in the stomach, doubling her over before an uppercut to the jaw tore through her defenses and sent her hurtling into the sky. The girl panted, spitting the blood out of her mouth from a split gum using her finger to wipe away the trickle from her mouth. The blow had left her head feeling as if it were attached loosely. He laughed at her pain even as he built up for a ki attack that he launched at her from his antenna. Akane struck the blast away with her war hammer before unleashing a ki blast of her own from the weapon. It impacted on Buu's body with no effect.

"You won't get away with this!" she cried as she built her power up to previously unseen heights for the blue-haired girl. The war hammer in her grip suddenly burned with anger ki as she got ready for the next assault. Without warning, Buu appeared behind her and back kicked her in the spine, cracking her back. Pain lanced through her body as she tumbled through the air. All she could do was hold him off until greater warriors could arrive. She began funneling all her power into her body, feeling her muscles swell from the increased flow of power, roaring her defiance to the sky. Super Buu blinked at the sudden increase in power, but instead of cowering in fear, he grinned like a lunatic. The girl flew at him faster than she ever flew before, blazing with ki and seemed to be swelling before Buu's eyes.

"W-what do you think you're doing?" he asked startled as the girl looked as if her body was cracking, shafts of pure ki were exploding from her body as she reached her target.

"This is for everyone that I love! Doom Bringer-Kamikaze Angel!" with all her being, she unleashed the attack. Her body exploding violently, releasing the mass of energy from inside of her very being. A beautiful blue angel flew at Buu, ghostly flaring wings streaming behind her with a scythe held in her spectral hands. The angel howled in misery before turning red and striking the startled Majin, blowing through him like an eighteen wheeler would go through a wooden fence, before curling back around and wrapping him up in the heavy ki attack. Super Buu tried valiantly to break free, but couldn't escape the vengeful angel as it bore him further into the sky and away from the Lookout.

"This cannot be!" he roared in confusion just before his angelic assailant exploded in a brilliant array of colors, utterly destroying the evil being, or so the hopeful watchers thought. When the light cleared, the only thing left was a quivering lump the size of a human fist. The remaining Z Warriors at the Lookout reflected bitterly on everyone that was lost because of that creature. Unfortunately, Akane's sacrifice would go to waste just like Vegita's as Super Buu regenerated and attacked…

Kai Planet-

Goku had woken up just in time to catch the tail end of the battle between Akane and Buu. The Supreme Kai seemed to be hit pretty hard. Almost the entire population of Earth had been destroyed and the only ones who could save the world were either not ready yet, or as he looked to Goku, dead. All eyes wandered over to the trio of teens as they sat meditation style on the ground as the Old Kai read manga. He was laughing at something, but the teens looked as if they were about ready to kill. When Gohan had jumped to his feet in a fit of rage, his aura exploding out from him, the impatient kids realized how much this was helping. With a sheepish smile, he sat back down to wait.

"I hope Goten and Trunks get the Fusion Dance down perfect…" Goku had said before Super Buu destroyed everything on Kami's Lookout, but Akane's sacrifice had bought everyone enough time to escape. But then something happened that gave the saiya-jin warrior hope. From out of the wreckage came a boy with golden hair and who was radiating immense levels of power. Supreme Kai smiled as well. Their chances had risen significantly as the young Super Saiya-Jin suddenly hit level three before unleashing a hideously powerful Kamehameha; Buu dodged the attack at the last second, but a sharp turn of the blast sent it through Super Buu. The evil being merely flexed slightly and was whole again. He began to gloat before Piccolo seemingly came out of nowhere and blind-sided him. The images were encouraging as the fighters flew away from the ruined Lookout at a fair clip. Their attention was diverted as the Old Kai finally pronounced them done.

"Seriously? We're done?" Ranma said in disbelief. The pigtailed boy was amazed at the feeling of power coursing through his body. His sister was grinning in delight as she whipped her sword out and executed a nearly invisible series of sword slashes. Gohan was impressed as well.

"Wait, Dad what did you teach Goten and Trunks?" Gohan asked as he noticed the crystal ball with the fused kids fighting tooth and nail against Super Buu.

"It's called the Fusion Dance, why?" he asked. Ranma and Gohan got the same look in their eyes as they thought of the possibilities. Goku caught on to what they were getting at and explained the technique.

"We don't have much time so you better get it down on the first try." Goku warned. The boys nodded. Ranko seemed to tense herself up before coughing politely to get their attention. Everyone looked at her.

"I'm going back to help out Piccolo and Gotenks." She announced. The others didn't look so certain that this was a good idea, but knew that if she was even half as stubborn as Ranma then she wouldn't back down. Her brother gave her a hug, startling them both, but she returned the hug.

"Be careful." He whispered. She nodded into his shoulder before backing up and getting ready to go.

"Before you go…" Supreme Kai waved his hand and she was suddenly dressed in her red gi with black undershirt. With another wave of his hand, she vanished. No one realized that they forgot to get the earrings off of her.

Earth-

The battle with Super Buu had been going great except for one thing. Gotenks' was far too arrogant and kept holding back. The monstrosity had time on his side as the three way battle picked up in intensity. Piccolo unleashed several Special Beam Cannons, piercing the monster's body and giving Gotenks an opening, but he would seemingly miss at the last second with a look of almost comical surprise. What kept it from being funny was that the fate of the Earth was at stake.

"Come on and get serious!" Piccolo shouted at the young Super Saiya-Jin. "Do you want everyone's sacrifices to be in vain? Gohan and Ranma tried to stop Buu, Vegita tried to stop Buu, and even Akane sacrificed her life to buy you the time to complete your training! Stop being an idiot and act like the warrior you're parents were!" His words seemed to finally get through to the boy as he realized how much was truly at stake. With that, he began summoning up his ki and started spitting out strange white things that looked like ghost versions of Gotenks.

"If you want me to get serious… Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack!" he ordered the attack. The ghosts began rocketing towards Buu screaming out war cries and demands for a raise. The evil one slapped the lead one, causing it to stop suddenly as the remaining ghosts rear ended the first. Super Buu was startled as the ghosts exploded violently. So violently they not only left him in pieces, but also destroyed the surrounding landscape completely. The pieces started to form back up, but Piccolo and Gotenks began blasting the pieces. Each separate piece was vaporized systematically. When they finally blasted the last one, the cloud of dust around them had grown thick. Suddenly it started coalescing into one mass. They still hadn't defeated Buu.

"Shit!" Piccolo cried as he saw blobs latching onto him and Gotenks. The two warriors fought as hard as they could, but it was no use. The sight that greeted Ranko when she arrived was Super Buu absorbing the two warriors. Before her eyes it looked as if he was wearing the same vest Gotenks had been wearing.

"No! I'm too late? Piccolo! Gotenks!" she couldn't believe what she had seen, but it only served to harden her resolve. The sword that the Supreme Kai gave her cleared the sheathe just milliseconds before she was in Super Buu's face and cleaving him down the middle. As the halves separated, a quick blast of concentrated ki blasted his left side into nothingness, but before she could get the other side, a one-handed Kamehameha blasted her through several mountains before he appeared above her and he struck her with an axe handle chop into the ground. He hovered above the crater and fired straight downward at her prone form, but she was gone long before the blast connected. Ranko went into the third stage of the Neko-ken as she charged at Buu again only to have him dodge the attack and surprise her with the Super Ghost Kamikaze.

"Well that was certainly easier than I expected…hm?" he was stunned as he saw her still floating there. With a snarl of fury he took off after her only to have her dodge suddenly. The air around her was growing colder and colder, but he didn't notice or care as she led him into the spiral. Her look of confidence was growing. She suddenly shot her fist straight up into an uppercut, not even connecting.

"Hiryuu Shoten Ha!" she yelled as the cyclone suddenly developed. Super Buu was generating massive amounts of battle aura causing the ferocious wind to spin even faster. Ranko was reminded of using this attack to save Akane during the fight with Saffron. The girl was gone as was Nabiki. She could feel the hole from all the people that were missing and felt as if she were about to cry.

"Akane…Nabiki…Shampoo…Ukyou…Kasumi…Mom…" she let her grief and anger grow, the red and green ki spheres developing in her left and right hands respectively. This time a third one was there, a ball of pure black ki that represented her hatred. Upon throwing her hands out, the spheres fired off like beams in a triangle pattern that began filling up the tornado with her massive ki before shouting out the attack.

"Broken Heart Blast!" the explosion erupted out so violently that it disintegrated the very land around her. The only place still safe was a twenty foot circle of earth. The blast had been almost a perfect sphere in shape. What galled her was the twisted ruin of Buu trying to pull himself together.

"You'll pay for that bitch!" he shouted in anger.

"This is gonna be a long day…" she muttered as she got ready to fight again…

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Shorter chapter but I also don't want to advance the story too fast. I hope this story entertains you and that it meets with approval. Thank you and have a nice day! Ja ne!


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: It seems the results are in and people actually like my little story. I'm happy that I could make people happy just by doing something that I love to do and that's writing. I'm also getting requests to expand my one shot "Perfect". It was supposed to only be a one shot, but I have been thinking that I would like to expand it. Always remember to read and review. Time to get on with the show!

Dragon Fire

Chapter 9

The Battle Heats Up

Events down on Earth were looking grim. Two warriors were out of the fight, one of them permanently. The Old Kai and Supreme Kai groaned, as it suddenly got worse. Super Buu had decided that he wanted the speed and power that Ranko possessed and absorbed her. Since Gotenks had the greater power, his appearance didn't change at all, but he did pick up Ranko's sword. It was evident that he had even gained her skill with the blade.

"What can we do?" Supreme Kai asked the elder.

"Pray." Was all he got for a response as the old one turned to watch the boys practicing the dance. They needed to get it right the first time. Old Kai had all his power clenched, ready to warp the fusion warrior to the field.

Ranma was sweating from the exertion, but a pick me up from Kibito had him ready to go again. Never had he done anything so difficult. It wasn't that it was humiliating (because it was) nor was it the fact that it didn't seem to serve any practical purpose (even if it did). It was difficult to combine two separate beings into one. A look showed him that Gohan wasn't doing much better. Goku was conferring with the Kais; his face was grim as he returned.

"C'mon guys! You're out of time! Akane just used Kamikaze and Buu absorbed Ranko. There's no one left but you." He told them gravely. The boys looked absolutely stunned. Ranma felt despair welling up in his chest at the news. His heart ached with grief, but Gohan seemed to grow angry. The saiya-jin child snarled in rage.

"C'mon Ranma. Let's do this right! For Akane and Ranko!" he once again dropped back into the dance pose. The pigtailed boy nodded as he thought about all who were important to him. He took up the stance opposite Gohan. The moves they were shown suddenly seemed to flow through their minds and their bodies. They chanted in unison.

"Fu-sion-HA!" with that final shout their bodies merged together in a bright flash of light. Before the light even cleared, Old Kai released the teleportation spell and sent them to Earth.

"Good luck guys…" Goku whispered before his eyes widened from the sheer power he was feeling. He began thinking that maybe Super Buu needed the luck.

Earth-

Maniacal laughter filled the air just seconds before the mountains fell as slashes appeared causing them to fall. Super Buu was wielding his new toy with expert precision. Apparently not only did Ranko know how to use the sword, but so did Piccolo. His dark heart actually felt strangely light as he spun and twirled in a dance of death.

"Wheeheehee this is fun!" he roared in evil amusement as he slashed the sword down again, creating a vacuum wave that ripped apart the ground. His smile turned to a look of shock as another vacuum blade took his hand off at the wrist and his new toy disappeared.

"Who dares?" he roared as he looked to the interloper.

"I dare." A peculiar double voice said with arrogance. The figure standing there was dressed in a orange gi shirt with a red undershirt and black pants. He wore black boots as well. His stormy blue eyes pierced Buu's angry façade to reveal the terror within. His hair was spiky on top, his bangs arched out and down, and his hair was pulled back in a pigtail. The sword was sheathed through his belt.

"Who are you?" The mightiest evil in the universe demanded in anger.

"Call me Rohan." He said with a sneer just seconds before Buu's world exploded in pain. The battle was fast and brutal, the two super warriors were evenly matched it appeared. Buu held all the knowledge from Gotenks, Piccolo, and Ranko while Rohan held the knowledge of Gohan and Ranma. Mouko Takabisha met Masenko Ha. Amaguriken met Amaguriken. The landscape around them was shattering as they unleashed titanic forces to destroy each other. Super Buu had never encountered anything with the same single-minded desire to destroy as himself. The fact that this desire was aimed at him was frightening. In desperation, he unleashed a Kamehameha at pointblank range into Rohan's face. The fusion warrior's fury made it impossible to dodge the attack and it blew him into the ground.

"That was certainly interesting! Care to try that again?" he roared, his humor restored. His eyes darted to the severed hand. It was quickly scrabbling along the rocks to get behind the mighty warrior. The pigtailed warrior quickly got back to his feet before rushing back at his foe, whipping out Ranko's sword. Super Buu threw up a barrier of pure ki to stop the assault but it was too little, too late as the keen edge rapidly sliced through his body before the blade was brought up over his head.

"Say your prayers bitch!" he cried as energy flew up the blade, gathering into a sphere over his head. Just as he was bringing the blast down on the monstrosity's head, something smacked him in the back. Distracted, he looked to what had snagged him and realized he was screwed. It was Super Buu's hand and it was expanding rapidly. Just as suddenly as it happened, it was over as a beam flash fried the encroaching goo.

"Pah! Some warrior you turn out to be. So easily distracted." Vegita, the Prince of All Saiya-Jins sneered just as Goku arrived, missing his halo.

"Hey guys! What'd I miss?" he asked with a grin before looking to Super Buu. He gaped in astonishment before laughing hysterically. The monster demanded, in a higher voice.

"What's so funny?" the bizarre voice caused all eyes to be drawn to him, but what they saw resulted in a fit of laughter. Super Buu was hovering there looking incredibly feminine with prominent attributes. "His" eyes looked to where they were looking for a whole minute before a high-pitched scream let them know how much the mightiest evil in the universe enjoyed finding this out. Steam shot out of her head like from a kettle just before she launched into the attack, missing Rohan by a mile, but her target was readily apparent as she smashed Vegita in the face, hurtling him into Goku, knocking the two of them into the ground. Rocks buried them. Buu grinned and giggled before stopping. With a shriek of rage she flew at the strongest person there and cold cocked him. The punch didn't even budge him.

"Well that was certainly interesting." He said as if commenting on the weather before punching her into the ground. Super Buu pulled her head up from the ground and glared in silent fury at the insufferable person sneering down at her. The evil menace of magic flew back into the sky just in time to be greeted by Rohan's cupped hands.

"It ends now…" he assumed the horse stance as he turned at the waist, gathering power into his hands. All his power was channeled into his palms as he prepared for the biggest attack he had ever performed. Super Buu kicked him in the crotch, but all that was heard was a dull thud with no damage done.

"Super… Ka… me… ha… me… HAAA!" he roared as he threw his hands into Super Buu's chest, unleashing the all-powerful attack. The blast bored through her chest as it began expanding, tearing a gradually larger hole through the evil being. Blue and gold ki flared through and over Buu as she screamed in pain and rage. Just as the head was about to be utterly vaporized, the stream of power faltered. Rohan gaped in astonishment as he felt his strength faltering. His body felt like it was being torn in two. With a last cry of power, the flagging attack picked up a bit. Buu was now openly sneering as she witnessed the struggle to hold it together before suddenly where there was one, there were now two.

"Now it's over…" Super Buu said just as she blinked out and reappeared behind Gohan, blasting him in the spine with a Special Beam Cannon. The young saiya-jin hit the ground quivering in pain. She suddenly appeared before Ranma and tried to smash her in the face, but an arcing blade sliced her in half before another rapid series of slashes cut her up. With a hiss of fury, Ranma unleashed the full and unbridled Neko-ken just as he blasted the dice demon at full power with a yellow beam.

"Over? I seriously doubt that!" he shouted as he utilized the Soul of Ice and imbued his sword with frozen energy. The quivering mass of Buu was in the middle of reforming just as the blade came down and froze her solid. The lump of ice hit the ground and shattered. It would have been nice if it was over, but he could already feel his enhanced power bleeding off. Power gave way to tiredness as he watched Buu rise once more into the air, the pieces of ice were thawing rapidly.

"How do I beat this thing? What I need is a decisive blow, but how? I need to rest…I need energy…" he thought frantically and wished he had a senzu bean. With a start he realized that he did! It was a long shot, but he needed to get away long enough to use it. Buu reconstituted herself just seconds before driving Ranma into the ground with a powerful haymaker. The pigtailed martial artist was actually glad for the reprieve, but knew that it wouldn't last. The rocks off to the side hadn't moved in quite a while. Goku and Vegita should have been out by now. Suddenly the cairn began to rumble and quake as a massive chi suddenly flared into existence.

"Now what…?" Buu asked in a weary tone. Just when she had one enemy down another one springs up to take its place. This foe was far greater than she anticipated, however, as the figure that erupted from the ground came into view. He was wearing a blue gi with an orange undershirt. His gloves were white and his boots were black. The potara earrings dangling from his ears.

"Surprised?" came the strange double voice. "Just call me Vegito and let it at that." He grinned at the startled pink blob before lunging in for the attack. Ranma was thrilled to have the chance to eat the bean and regain his strength. With that thought, he popped the bean and got ready.

"Round Two."

Kai Planet-

"This couldn't be better!" Supreme Kai exclaimed enthusiastically. He and Kibito had foolishly decided to fuse, but seemed no worse for the wear. The elder Kai smirked in obvious delight as Vegito thoroughly thrashed Super Buu. It was tense in a few spots, especially when Buu turned him into a hard candy, but that didn't seem to stop him from pummeling the magic beast into submission. The already dancing Kais saw Ranma emerge from the rubble, unharmed and radiating even greater energy.

"Oooh…Look who's back on his feet! I think we might actually win this!" Elder Kai exclaimed happily until he saw a piece of Buu creeping up on Ranma. He could only watch in stunned horror as it struck the boy in the back and almost instantly dragged him inside of the creature. Buu changed appearances back to male and was wearing Ranma's gi. Another blob struck Buu, bearing Gohan and empowering him further. Their hopes for victory crumbled as they witnessed this tragic event.

"We need a miracle…" Elder Kai muttered.

Earth-

Vegito had powered up to the highest level of Super Saiya-Jin that he possessed, but even that was barely enough to withstand the assault of the much stronger Buu. He knew the whole world was riding on this. If they survived then all their friends could be brought back with the Dragon Balls, but Super Buu was the greatest concern. No matter what he threw at him, the unstoppable creature seemed to flow around it or turn it against them.

"I thought you were supposed to be all powerful." Buu said with a cocky smirk as he whipped the sword around to cleave the fusion warrior, but a hastily constructed blade of ki deflected the strike. It turned into an almost light speed battle between the two as they each fought for dominance. What galled the mighty Saiya-jin was that a lousy human had stood a better chance against this freak. When the two broke for air, it was clearly apparent who had fared better.

"This is impossible…I-I should be the strongest…the title of strongest belongs to me! To ME!" Vegito roared in absolute fury. His power began soaring upward. Vegita's fury at not being the strongest and over what happened to his family coupled with Goku's own fury over failing the planet and his family combined inside of Vegito to unleash a depth of power that the world had not seen before since Buu. With a cry of rage his hair flared golden, growing down his back to his waist, and his tail popped out of his pants. Buu's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he felt Super Saiya-Jin 3 Vegito power up.

"A simple power-up means nothing to me! Watch and be amazed!" Buu roared as he accessed Goten, Trunks, Gohan, Ranma, Ranko, and Piccolo. Their trapped powers combined made Buu flare with a golden aura. When he tried to synch with Ranma's power, however, he couldn't find it. Something wasn't right, but this wasn't the time to worry about it. Vegito smirked as his sensed his opponent's discomfiture.

"If it means nothing…Then I suppose it's okay if I attack first." The fusion warrior said just as he used Instant Transmission to unleash several thousand blows in under a second, each one exploding with power as he released ki into each wound. Super Buu began having serious reservations about challenging Vegito. The Saiya-Jin warrior on the other hand couldn't have been happier.

Inside Buu-

Ranma awoke to a strange sensation. It felt like the ground was squishy and warm. He wished he could just go back to sleep, but something told him that he needed to be awake now. As the pigtailed boy opened his eyes he noticed something weird. It looked like he was inside of some giant cavern that almost seemed to throb as if it were alive. Wait a minute. This cavern was alive! The boy was on his feet in an instant, quickly surveying his surroundings. He tapped his foot on the ground only to hear a squishing sound. If he recognized anatomy correctly he seemed to be standing on a brain. It looked enormous to him, but he could tell that it still left more than enough room in his bubblegum skull. He stabbed his finger into the spot he was standing on, wondering what would happen.

Buu passed gas. Vegito looked offended at having to hear that. The normally uncaring construct actually looked embarrassed.

Well, that didn't do anything. Maybe he should try a different spot. An eruption of energy burst forth from his palm into his brain, charring the spot. To the wondering pigtail's eyes it looked like it wasn't regenerating. Since it didn't seem to be, he starting firing rapidly at the brain.

"I hope this works…"

Outside Buu-

Vegito blinked in astonishment as his opponent starting coming unraveled before his eyes. The terrifying Buu was spinning his antenna like a helicopter and singing the teapot song in Swahili. How he knew Swahili was anybody's guess. How Vegito knew it would have taken even longer to figure out. He was even flapping his arms like a chicken. He began gathering energy between his palms and drew his hands back. This was the perfect opportunity to defeat Majin Buu once and for all.

"Sayonara fool…" he grinned as he prepared the mother of all attacks.

Inside Buu-

Blowing apart the brain was fun, but he wanted to check out the rest of the skull to see where the others had gotten. His answer lay just under the brain as he came across the pods holding everyone. He noticed that they all seemed to be in some sort of suspended animation. He quickly began cutting the pods down from the fleshy looking ropes holding them. Ranma absently wished for the sword, but a flicker of ki and he had a claw that would do the job just nicely. The first person he released was Gohan and popped a senzu bean in his mouth. The half Saiya-jin woke up as if from a dream.

"Ranma…? What's going on?" the boy asked sleepily.

"We gotta get outta here! Help me get everyone else." His sixth sense was screaming danger, but Gohan's next words gave him pause.

"What about him?" he gestured at Majin Buu.

"Bring him." Ranma replied shortly as they gathered everyone. A sudden rumbling could be felt. The pigtailed boy realized they were almost too late. The only way out was through the head. He called Gohan over quickly as he powered up to full Neko-ken. Gohan powered up his mystic energy and the two performed a quick fusion. Rohan aimed his hands skyward and fired off a Super Kamehameha into the evil being's skull and punching a huge hole in Super Buu's skull. Quickly grabbing the fleshy ropes holding the pods, he took off for the exit as he fired off ki bursts to keep the hole open. Expending even more ki to fly faster, they emerged from the hole at near warp speed and regained their natural size. Rohan collapsed to his knees and kissed the ground. He looked up to see Vegito staring down at him, a smile quirked on his lips. The smile was returned as they two of them watched Super Buu start to shrink. He screamed as if in utter agony as he slowly collapsed to the ground.

"Yes!" the fusion warriors grinned at each other in victory just as Dende and Mr. Satan ran up to offer their own congratulations. Suddenly the Old Kai's voice whipped into their heads.

"Look out!" he cried. They quickly looked back to Buu and saw him in a much smaller form. They couldn't understand why they were afraid of him.

"That's his most powerful form! That's Kid Buu!" Supreme Kai shouted frantically. If he was the strongest then he was as good as dead the two warriors thought. The sneer on Ki Buu's face told them otherwise.

"He doesn't look like much." Vegito scoffed just as Kid Buu built up a power ball of scarlet red ki. The power of that one attack easily topped any previous Buu in power. Their world exploded in red as the attack hurtled straight for them…

End Chapter

Author's Notes: One more chapter to go. I believe it's important to tell the reader when the end is in sight. I would thank you for sticking around for as long as you have and I hope you continue reading! Ja ne!


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: This will be the final chapter. I'm combining this and the epilogue into one. I have enjoyed writing this, but I'm looking forward to actually reading fanfiction for a while instead of writing it. Though you also know that you should always expect the unexpected. Time to get on with the show!

Dragon Fire

Chapter 10

Time to Rumble!

The sphere of red ki looked like an unholy Genki Dama. The little thing's laughter was mindless as he flung the powerful blast upon the startled Earthlings. Vegito grinned suddenly as he touched his fingers to his forehead and extended his senses. His smirk was positively evil as all of them were suddenly teleported to another planet. Rohan recognized it as the Kai Planet. Their sudden teleportation dodged the attack easily.

"I sense nothing that resembles a mind…" Dende said in amazement. Mr. Satan thought with his cowards instincts, grabbed his dog and grabbed Dende before hightailing it out of there. The Saiya-Jins watched him split before turning back to the Kid.

"No mind huh?" Rohan said in amusement.

"None whatsoever." Vegito also said in amusement. What wasn't communicated verbally was a transmission from Vegito.

Get the pods out of here. Find someone to help us fight. Gimme a senzu bean. Rohan wordlessly slipped him the precious foodstuff before grabbing a pod at random and flying off a short distance. Kid Buu went to follow, but Super Saiya-Jin 3 Vegito booted him in the face before a tail whip sent him into the ground. The Kid blinked before getting up with a snarl and firing off several hundred pink ki blasts that were all casually deflected. Vegito knew that Kid Buu was just warming up.

"This is gonna take a while…" he muttered as he braced himself for the next attack.

A short distance away-

Rohan released Ranko and fed her the remaining senzu bean. According to his own internal clock he still had seventeen minutes before defusion. His sister's eyes opened slowly. She smiled up at her brother before something clicked. This wasn't her brother, but he certainly looked like him.

"Who are you?" she asked in confusion.

"I'm Rohan. I'm a fusion of Ranma and Gohan." He said. Ranko blinked before it registered, but when it did she became all business.

"How long have you got?" she asked.

"About fifteen minutes now." He replied as he handed back her sword. The girl gratefully accepted her weapon. Since time was so short it was agreed that they'd get back there now. Something flickered in Rohan's mind when he saw her earrings, but it didn't register. It was time to get back to the fight.

They streaked back towards the battlefield, giving them plenty of time to take everything in. Kid Buu and Vegito seemed to be at a stalemate, but the manic energy that the pink evil radiated was different than the slowly waning energy of the mighty fusion warrior. The two warriors brought their hands together and held close together as the energy was built up. The two of them were gathering up energy for the attack.

"Mouko Takabisha Perfect!" Ranko cried out as Rohan called out his attack at the same time.

"Super Ka-me-ha-me-HA!" he roared. The golden ball of pure confidence blended with the blue wave of energy. The joined attack roared down at the sinister construct just as another Kamehameha flew out from Vegito's hands. Kid Buu laughed hysterically even as the attacks struck home. A dome of blue and gold light rose up before it exploded upward in a blast of power. Unfortunately, his sinister chi could still be felt. As the dust settled, it became apparent that the attacks had done something, but even though he was regenerating slower, he was still regenerating. The warriors flew together to plan their next attack.

"How can we stop this guy?" Rohan panted tiredly. He expended too much energy and it shortened his fusion time.

"Damned if I know…" Ranko groaned. The attack took quite a bit out of her as well, but surprisingly Vegito was invigorated. He had a plan and it was so bright that it shone.

"I'll gather a Genki Dama. You two hold him off for me to do it." He ordered as he took off. The remaining warriors blinked, but couldn't argue with that. A Genki Dama could probably defeat anyone if the mighty fusion warrior could pull it off. Rohan estimated that he had eight minutes left, but once again Ranko's earrings caught his eye. Finally two and two came together.

"The Potara Earrings! That's perfect!" he exclaimed excitedly. At the girl's confused look he explained about he fusion that could be created from the earrings. She looked hesitant about it, but the universe was at stake. With a sigh, she removed the one from her left ear and tossed it to Rohan. The boy affixed it to his left ear. The two teens blinked as they were violently pulled together with a mighty crash that echoed across the battlefield. In the silence that followed all that could be heard was Buu's maniacal laughter and Mr. Satan helping Vegito plead with the Earth for more power. The glowing ball of radiant blue and white overhead was growing exponentially, but to the pink construct it took a back seat to the bizarre apparition before him.

"Heehee…?" he laughed uncertainly.

"What are you laughing about…? I don't think I said anything funny." A strange female voice asked with all the sharpness of a rapier. The girl had black hair with red streaks; the pigtail was red as well. She wore an outfit exactly like Rohan's. The girl grinned as she dropped into a loose fighting stance, her hand resting on her sword. She didn't have time to waste on creating a name. Kid Buu was no longer distracted by her appearance and had turned his attention back to Vegito. His arms were above his head, getting ready to unleash his unholy Genki Dama and disrupt the build up of energy. Just before he could finish the attack, a powerful Mouko Takabisha smashed into his head, disintegrating it just seconds before a shish kabob kick tore into his shoulder and ripped the top half of his body off. The evil being's flying body parts that turned into mini Buus interrupted the assault. The fusion warrior girl had her hands full dodging the tiny terrors that vaguely reminded her of Happosai. They were glomping onto any part of her body that they could reach. Her revulsion reached its peak.

"Get OFF!" she screamed as she unleashed a massive dome of anger-fueled ki, vaporizing the Mini Buus, save for one. The little freak was visibly shaken as he contemplated what almost happened. That was too close for his comfort as he grew back into his true height. He was growing more tired by the second. The magic wasn't infinite, but even with the drain he was more than the fusion girl could handle. He leapt about like a hyperactive flea, slamming her repeatedly with powerful blows before bouncing away again.

"Kyah ha hah ha!" Kid Buu laughed until a bright yellow glove took him in the jaw and sent him hurtling into the ground.

"Buu make you go bang bang for hurting friends!" The pigtailed girl stared in astonishment as Majin Buu stood there in all his fat glory. His normally shut eyes were open and blazing. Kid Buu snickered at his fat counterpart until a snap kick tore his head off and a blazing pink ki blast shredded his torso. Mr. Satan was cheering fat Buu on as he rallied the people of Earth.

"Can ya hold him off, Buu?" she asked the Majin terror. The innocent pink bubblegum nodded as he prepared to square off against his evil counterpart.

The girl sensed something was happening. It almost felt as if her body was tearing apart. There was no help for it; she had to give her remaining ki to Vegito. She held her hands out towards the Genki Dama and unleashed a Super Mouko Takabisha/Kamehameha into the swirling mass of power. It soaked her attack up like a sponge as well as draining her ki to almost nothing. The Potara Earrings shattered as the Rohan fusion broke up forcing the whole fusion to shatter. Three teenagers crashed to the ground as the slipped into unconsciousness. If they had been awake they would have seen the ball of power visibly double in size.

The battle between the two Buus had reached epic proportions. Kid Buu somersaulted into his opponent only to be deflected by Majin Buu's huge stomach, but the return blast struck the Kid dead on. It was unclear who was winning, but on the outside it looked as if Majin Buu was winning. To anyone who could read a martial artist it was clear that the Kid was holding back. Mr. Satan didn't know what to do. He may be a crock compared to the others, but he was an excellent fighter in his own right. When he noticed his friend being defeated he screwed up his courage. He further bolstered his resolve by remembering his daughter and his promise to his wife that nothing would happen to her. With a loud "Kiyah!" he roared into battle.

"Dynamite Kick!" he cried as he executed a spinning kick into Kid Buu, each strike exploding like dynamite. It felt like a baby's tap. He grinned and went to move, but it must have done something to him because all of a sudden he could barely move.

"Buu glad!" Majin Buu cried when he saw his friend jump in. It made the fat blob feel good and since he felt good he wanted his friend to feel good. Putting everything he had into it, he began powering up and gathering the surrounding energy into himself. With a surge of power, Majin Buu transformed into a glowing Super Buu. The weakening Kid glared murderously at the cheerful Super Buu before an evil laugh shook him to the core. He looked to Mr. Satan and noticed he was venting aura. The ball overhead was almost finished.

"uh oh" was all he said as a massively powerful burst of ki blew into him followed by Mr. Satan's Megaton Punch as he was regenerating. Super Buu grabbed his friend and took off like a shot, scooping up the kids on his way, just in time for the Genki Dama to be completed. Vegito laughed.

"Now it's time for you to die! You were a worthy opponent…I hope we meet again. Genki Dama!" he roared as he hurled the powerful ball of spirit ki down at the ground. The whole area turned white as Kid Buu tried to hold off the attack vainly. He shrieked in rage as it began devouring him and dissipating him. Super Buu was expending all his energy to protect the pods as well as the unconscious teens. As the attack raged, the planet began to crumble and fall. When the ball finally exploded, the whole world turned white.

The terror of Buu was finally at an end.

Events progressed rapidly in the months following the defeat of Kid Buu. The Eternal Dragon was summoned to restore all the people killed during the whole debacle. With the second wish they wished for Vegito to be separated back into Goku and Vegita, much to their wives' pleasure. Ranma was reunited with the Tendos, Nabiki foremost among them. The mercenary girl was sobbing almost as hard as the pigtailed boy was. Everyone was reunited with those they loved, even the Eternal Dragon smiled at the sight before vanishing. It was the start of a new age of peace.

Ranma and Nabiki were married and running the dojo. The young man teaching classes in the morning for the adult students and in the afternoon for the younger students. All wanted to be trained by one of the heroes of Earth that took on Buu. Nabiki managed the funds for the dojo, which turned out to be surprisingly a lot of money. Genma was safely back home with his wife, who visited frequently especially when it turned out that the once Ice Queen was pregnant. They would later name the child Kimiko, after Nabiki's mother.

Kasumi finally found Doctor Tofu. He had gone on a long training journey to learn how to cope with his feelings for her and had found Ryoga. The two of them had become hopelessly lost, which strangely enough, helped him with his feelings towards the girl. It was a good thing too because they had popped out right in the furo where she was taking a bath. The Lost Boy fled with a nosebleed, but the good doctor decided that this was as good a time as any to ask her to marry him. Decorum was thrown to the wind as the girl enthusiastically dragged him into the water with her and showed him how much he had been missed. Not once did he dance off with Betty. The two of them joined Nabiki and Ranma in a double wedding. Their clinic opened down the street from the dojo, doing brisk business because Ranma's rivals still show up from time to time and they have to get patched up somewhere.

Akane was finally open about her feelings to Ranko, but unfortunately she told P – chan the Blunder Pig. When Ryoga found his way back and saw the woman he loved in the arms of a older looking redheaded girl he did what he usually does. Jumps to conclusions and leaps in to attack. The blue-haired girl tried to warn him away, but her girlfriend was really upset with Pig Boy's antics and decided to show him just how displeased she was. If Buu had been there at ground zero of that explosion they wouldn't have found a particle big enough to regenerate. The Lost Boy tried to figure out where he went wrong, but a nice side effect of the severe beating was that his lack of direction was blown clear out of his head. He found Akari and lived happily ever after on her farm. Ranko and Akane are also living happily ever after in the new wing of the dojo. In general, all the loose ends were tied up and wrapped up in a pretty package.

Dende likes happy endings.

A couple years later-

The World Martial Arts Tournament had arrived and all the greatest warriors on the planet were there. It was not only a test of skill that brought one large group, but a reunion of sorts. Goten and Trunks were older now, the two older teens were still inseparable. Goku was there with his wife Chichi and Vegita was there with Bulma. Piccolo had come as well, but of course it wasn't because he hadn't seen them in a while. Kuririn and 18 were there with their daughter Marron. The blonde girl kept flirting with Goten, much to everyone's amusement. The ones attracting the most attention were the children.

Ranma and Nabiki's daughter Kimiko was playing with Pan. Kasumi and Tofu's son Keichi was admonishing them to be careful or they might get hurt. Kimiko was a hyperactive ball of energy. Her brown hair shown with natural red highlights. Her clothing looked like a mini version of her father's gi. Pan was Gohan and Videl's daughter. She had her black hair in a cute bowl cut and wore a white karate gi. Keichi was a serious brown-haired little boy with a big heart and wore a brown gi much like his father.

Ranma and Nabiki watched their child play with amusement. He was competing this year of course. It would help with promoting his dojo. His wife was considered one of the richest women in Tokyo due to the success of Ranma. She had insisted that he allow their daughter to compete. He had a tendency to be overprotective of their baby girl. A little boy wandered up to the children playing with a small chuckle. He was a stocky kid, sturdily built and looked as if he could stop a train with just his head.

"Where am I now?" he asked in confusion. It didn't take a genius to figure out whose child he was. The boy was wearing a tiger striped bandanna and was dressed exactly like his dad. The poor child realized he was surrounded by strangers and started crying. A tall redhead scooped him up.

"It's okay sweetie…We'll help you find your mommy and daddy…" Ranko soothed the boy. Akane had her arm around her lover's waist with a smile on her face. The child smiled a gap toothed smile.

"Hiro? Where are you honey?" an attractive young woman walked up and stopped. She smiled happily as she rushed over. "Hiro!"

"Mommy! These nice people found me!" the little boy waved his arms enthusiastically. Ranko passed the boy to his mother and returned her lover's one-armed hug.

"Thank you so much…Ryoga! He's over here!" she called out. A huge man, easily nearing seven feet tall strode over. He was incredibly muscular and his eyes were filled with good humor, but above all, relief.

"You found him?" he held his wife close. Ranma was staring up at the man in amazement. Obviously Ryoga had been training. He moved with a fluid grace that belied his size. A gargantuan pig strode up in a no-nonsense manner, shouldering people aside easily. The whole family was here apparently.

"These nice people found him." Akari, if Ranma was correct, smiled dazzlingly at them. The Former Lost Boy looked to his old rival and a big grin split his face.

"Hey Saotome! Whatcha been up to?" he grabbed his friend's hand in a tight handshake. If this was the old days then that grip would have turned his bones to powder. As it was, they actually creaked a little.

"Living. Got married to Nabiki here…" he gave his wife a hug. The woman was distracted by an urgent call from her cell, but still gave him a wave. The two former rivals began talking about what had been going on. Kasumi and Tofu came over as well as Ranko and Akane. The whole group slowly began coming together before the tournament was supposed to start. It finally became time to go and they all went to the arena.

It should be noted how the matches went. The first match was Pan versus a giant brute of a man that couldn't bring himself to attack the child. Easiest victory for the young quarter saiya-jin. Kimiko was in the second match. The battle that actually made the spectators wonder if they were under mass hypnosis was a rumble between Pan and Kimiko. The children exhibited a level of skill and power that was highly unexpected from two children, but it made their parents proud nonetheless.

"Don't go easy on me!" Kimiko boasted with pride.

"I won't! Let's have fun!" Pan cheered as she dropped into a ready stance. The first dozen or so blows were delivered just within the normal sight spectrum, but all blows after that were well outside what a person could see. Even the Z Fighters were having a hard time seeing it. When the ki blasts started firing, it was close to the time when the children should be reigned in.

"You lose!" the young auburn haired girl shouted as she rushed at Pan at full speed, but the little saiya-jin flared gold briefly and kicked her clear out of the ring. Keichi was on the sidelines, patting a band-aid on her forehead and handing her a lollipop. The announcer called the fight in favor of Pan. Her parents were bursting with pride. Poor Kimiko flew to her mother in the stands and cried in her lap.

"It's okay sweetheart…" Nabiki held her daughter close as the next fights started.

A special match was being fought. Gohan and Ranma versus Goten and Trunks. No one knew what was so special about these match ups, but the Z Fighters knew. The crowd was treated to a bizarre form of dance complete with chanting.

"Fu-sion-HA!" the four shouted as they touched fingers with their partners. A flare of light erupted, revealing two vibrantly glowing figures. Mystic Rohan versus Super Saiya-Jin 3 Gotenks. The fight lasted lest than half an hour. A significant time period for the fusion warriors. Jaws were dropped in amazement as the two fusion warriors fought like they were trying to kill each other. The overall winner was no one. A Super Kamehameha met a Big Bang Finale, knocking them both out instantly.

"Never saw anything like that…" the announcer muttered as he readied himself for the next match. The tournament was declared over when Goku entered the ring with a young man named Uub. The two of them fought for a while before they stopped to talk. No one could hear what was said, but before the crowd knew it, the two were flying off. The only one to know what was said was Piccolo. He smiled.

"Good luck Goku…" he said as he swished his cape and went back to join their friends.

The End

Author's Notes: Whew…That ends the story. Some people may complain about the length, but I couldn't see dragging it out too long. The trick is to write enough that the audience is happy, but not too much or they get bored. Thank you all for reading. Ja ne!


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